Despite facing criticism from Democrats and the mainstream media, a high-ranking official remains unshaken after releasing over 40,000 hours of unseen footage from a significant event, prompting further investigations and discussions.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has remained unfazed by Democratic and mainstream media criticism after releasing over 40,000 hours of previously unseen footage from the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Sharing this footage with Fox News host Tucker Carlson, the videos were aired over several days.
Ignoring the Democrats’ claim that there were only 14,000 hours of footage, McCarthy has assured the public that they will have access to these tapes once his team has reviewed them for security concerns. As McCarthy stated, “I think the public should see what’s happened to them.”
Although major media organizations have sued the Justice Department and the FBI to gain access to the footage, they are yet to receive it. In response, The Post-Gazette argued that if McCarthy could share the material with a talk show host, he should also share it with other media organizations and the public.
Meanwhile, House Republicans are creating their own January 6 committee to “reinvestigate” the events at the U.S. Capitol. Georgia Republican Rep. Barry Loudermilk, who will chair the new panel, has announced plans to “investigate both sides” and “show what really happened on January 6.”
Loudermilk also mentioned the possibility of interviewing former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi about Capitol security decisions leading up to January 6. House Republicans have previously accused Pelosi of security and intelligence failures on that day, citing evidence of her staff’s involvement in security discussions and their refusal to grant federal law enforcement requests to protect the Capitol.
The New York Post reported that House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving, who answered to Pelosi as a voting member of the Capitol Police Board, “succumbed to political pressures from the Office of Speaker Pelosi and House Democrat leadership.” Irving allegedly asked a senior Democratic staffer to “act surprised” when sharing key information about plans for the Joint Session on January 6 with Republicans.
Although the report claimed that staff within the House Sergeant at Arms office blamed Pelosi for January 6, no evidence was provided. The Speaker’s office has denied any power over the Capitol Police, asserting that the Capitol Police response to the allegations stands as the truth.
“I have no power over the Capitol Police. Does anybody not know that? The Capitol Police have responded to that gentleman’s allegation, and that stands as what it is. But I have no power over the police,” Pelosi’s office said in February.
Sources: ConservativeBrief, The Post-Gazette, CBS News, NYpost
