House Speaker Kevin McCarthy gave Fox News host Tucker Carlson exclusive access to 41,000 hours of January 6 security footage, Axios reported on Monday.
The outlet reported that Carlson’s television producers were in Washington, D.C. last week to sift through the footage, which was taken from numerous camera angles throughout Capitol grounds and will be airing on Fox News in a few weeks.
“There was never any legitimate reason for this footage to remain secret,” Carlson told Axios reporter Mike Allen.
“If there was ever a question that’s in the public’s interest to know, it’s what actually happened on January 6. By definition, this video will reveal it. It’s impossible for me to understand why any honest person would be bothered by that,” he added.
The process of releasing the footage to Carlson began earlier this month, according to Allen.
McCarthy told reporters in mid-January of this year that he intended to push the new Republican-controlled Congress to release all of the previously suppressed January 6 security footage for transparency purposes.
The January 6 security footage, some legal experts have claimed, may contain evidence that could exonerate some of the individuals who have been indefinitely detained by the Biden administration over nonviolent Capitol riot-related offenses.
In addition to exonerating some of the prisoners, some have speculated that the hidden security footage may reveal actions taken by potentially undercover federal assets, who have been suspected of embedding themselves within the protesting crowds and encouraging, animating, or outright participating in violence that day.
The prospect of undercover federal involvement in the riots was originally spearheaded by Revolver News’ Darren Beattie, whose in depth reporting on individuals such as Ray Epps revealed a “massive web of unindicted operators at the heart of January 6.”
Carlson notably took notice of the reports and covered the critical topic on his show, oftentimes alongside Beattie himself, discussing the role that FBI agents and operatives had in “encouraging” violence on January 6.
The revelations prompted a select group of House Republicans to push for investigations into the FBI and other agencies over their likely role in what could be viewed as a federal sabotage of the peaceful election protest, and for the cessation of what has been described as the indefinite detainment of American citizens in Joe Biden’s Washington, D.C. “Gulag” who were “entrapped” in the plot.
Some conservative activists have said that McCarthy’s decision to send the footage to Carlson falls short of his promise to fully release it to the public.
“@RepMTG how stupid do you think we are? This is not a ‘public’ release of the tapes. Classic bullsht artistry from you & your boy toy @SpeakerMcCarthy So @TuckerCarlson gets to ‘curate’ what we see? McCarthy promised a PUBLIC RELEASE. That means OPEN SOURCE FOR ALL TO SEE,” tweeted former Florida Congressional candidate and conservative activist Laura Loomer.
“MTG Botched this again. Cares more about press hits than J6 Families,” tweeted StopTheSteal founder Ali Alexander, who was also featured in Carlson’s Patriot Purge documentary series, which explored “how the Biden regime is using the Capitol riots on January Sixth to paint Americans as terrorists.”
“Tucker has been a strong ally of due process rights for the J6. He even put me in a documentary. Appreciated. HOWEVER I cannot believe the unbelievable audacity of MTG-McCarthy not releasing the 41,000 hours of video to the public and defense teams,” Alexander added in a subsequent tweet.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) later appeared to take a swipe at the critics online, claiming that “not one single lying grifter on social media had anything to do with” the tapes being sent to Carlson.
“I told you we would all along. Stop listening to the losers who claim they know what’s going on bc of their ‘sources’ while they beg you for donations,” Rep. Greene wrote. “They don’t know…”
Others, like renowned journalist Lara Logan, have celebrated that move, stating that Carlson and his team “understand the fate of many innocent Americans lies in their hands. The whole truth is the only thing that can save them & us.”
“Awesome!” Donald Trump Jr., the son of 45th President Donald Trump, said of the news. “Incidentally, when I did my Triggered podcast interview with @SpeakerMcCarthy he had mentioned, as we chatted afterwards, that he was trying to get all the footage to make sure it got out.”
“This has been in the works, but great that it’s happening!” he added.
This news and commentary by Andrew White originally appeared on Valiant News.
