McCarthy makes good on his promise
Trying to win favor among politicians in your own party can be difficult — just ask Kevin McCarthy. He tried repeatedly to sway other Republicans to vote him in as House speaker, but after many failed votes, the outlook appeared bleak. Then things changed and he was able to finally secure the position that he had sought for so long and made so many promises to get.
One of his promises was to release security footage from the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol; a fulfilled promise that he’s now defending.
“I was asked in the press about these tapes, and I said they do belong to the American public,” McCarthy told The New York Times about security footage from the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. “I think sunshine lets everybody make their own judgment.”
As part of his bid to become speaker, McCarthy did promise to release the footage and it’s something that Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., demanded. In fact, Gaetz had a lengthy list of demands that he walked into McCarthy’s office, the night before the speaker’s vote, according to a GOP source familiar with the list.
However, it was not specified on the list that the footage had to go to Fox News Host Tucker Carlson — that was determined later. McCarthy could have had his own committees sort through the footage and present it, but a source close to the House speaker said he’s long been wary of having the House GOP appear to be relitigating or investigating the Jan. 6 attack.
Instead of engaging his own committees, McCarthy chose to give the footage to a conservativefriendly media network — specifically Carlson — who’s been very vocal in conservative media, calling for the footage to be released.
Carlson has also been a huge McCarthy critic, so perhaps in releasing the footage to him, McCarthy will win some favor with Carlson’s camp, as he attempts to hold together the moderate and conservative wings of his party.
He appears to be attempting to satisfy both sides by outsourcing this work to the media, but there’s still a risk. He and House Republicans could still get blamed for however this ends up playing out.
Democrats are quick to criticize his decision, saying it creates a significant security risk. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer blasted McCarthy in a letter to his Senate colleagues on Wednesday, according a news report.
He said “the speaker is needlessly exposing the Capitol complex” and that the disclosure “poses grave security risks to members of Congress and everyone who works on Capitol Hill.”
Meanwhile, while Carlson, who’s been one of the most prominent promoters of Jan. 6 conspiracy theories, has the footage, more than a dozen news outlets sued for access to the videos in 2021. The chief judge of DC federal court ruled that the public has a strong interest in seeing some security footage, but the release of the video has not been guaranteed nor was it automatic, according to a news report.