Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Mccarthy grants Fox access to Jan. 6 video
Some say move threat to security of Capitol
Thousands of hours of surveillance footage from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol have been made available to Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson, a level of access granted by House Speaker Kevin Mccarthy that Democrats swiftly condemned as a “grave” breach of security.
“It’s a shocking development that brings in both political concerns but even more importantly, security concerns,” said Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., who was a chief counsel during President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial.
Many critics warn that Capitol security could be endangered if Carlson airs security footage that details how the rioters accessed the building and the routes lawmakers used to flee to safety.
Images and videos from the Capitol attack by Trump supporters have been widely circulated by documentarians, news organizations and even the rioters themselves.
But officials have held back much of the surveillance video from hundreds of security cameras stationed in and around the Capitol that offer a detailed view of the scene and the beatings of police as they tried to stop the rioters.
Carlson, who previously produced a documentary suggesting the federal government used the Capitol attack by Trump’s supporters as a pretext to persecute conservatives, confirmed that his team was reviewing the footage ahead of a possible airing.
“We believe we have secured the right to see whatever we want to see,” Carlson said on his show this past week.
It’s not clear what protocols Carlson and his team are using to view the material, but he said that “access is unfettered.”
Mccarthy’s office declined to confirm the arrangement, first reported by Axios, despite repeated requests for comment.
The chief of the U.S. Capitol Police, Tom Manger, issued a statement when asked about the new release of footage: “When congressional leadership or congressional oversight committees ask for things like this, we must give it to them.”