House Republicans are moving to allow accused Jan. 6 rioters access to U.S. Capitol security footage of the day of the attack to help in their legal defenses.
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has greenlighted a plan for the defendants to receive the tapes on a “case-by-case” basis, according to Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA), who holds the gavel for the House Administration Committee’s oversight panel. McCarthy recently released the cache of video evidence to Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who is expected to release reports on the footage.
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“Everyone accused of a crime in this country deserves due process, which includes access to evidence which may be used to prove their guilt or innocence,” Loudermilk said in a statement to Politico. “It is our intention to make available any relevant documents or videos, on a case-by-case basis, as requested by attorneys representing defendants.”
A GOP aide told Politico that Republicans are working on a system that will allow the public to view some of the Jan. 6 evidence, broadening access even after Carlson’s episodes air.
Nearly a thousand people have been charged in connection to the 2021 riot so far. These include 17 counts of seditious conspiracy. McCarthy’s decision to share the 41,000 hours of security footage with Fox News has already been mentioned in two of the trials: A defense attorney for a Proud Boys member who was charged with seditious conspiracy asked prosecutors if they would share the video evidence, and a lawyer for another defendant said he had already been allowed to see the footage.
Democrats decried McCarthy’s release of the tapes, objecting to giving Carlson exclusive reporting access and raising security concerns. Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) said any outgoing images and videos would be checked for information that could hurt the security of the Capitol complex.
“What gets released is obviously going to be scrutinized to make sure you’re not exposing any sensitive information that hasn’t already been exposed,” he said.
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Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) wrote in a “Dear Colleague” letter last week that “extreme MAGA Republicans in the House have provided tens of thousands of hours of sensitive Capitol security footage to a FOX News personality who regularly peddles in conspiracy theories and Pro-Putin rhetoric.”
Republican leadership suspects that the investigation by the Jan. 6 select committee was “selective” in what evidence it revealed to the public. Choosing to share the footage with Carlson first is an apparent gesture of goodwill from McCarthy, who in the past has clashed with the popular TV host.
