Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy admitted that he provided Fox News host Tucker Carlson with Jan. 6 security footage, defending his decision by saying he had already "promised" to give the tapes to the press.
The GOP lawmaker said he was frequently asked about the press regarding the tapes, which he said belonged to the American public. McCarthy argued that he thinks everyone should be given a chance to make their judgment regarding the violent Capitol riot.
Security Footage of Jan. 6 Riot
The House speaker promised to provide the video footage as part of his efforts to shore up support to be elected as speaker. Specifically, it was something that GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz was demanding from McCarthy.
It was also part of an extensive list of demands that the Florida representative brought into McCarthy's office the night before the vote for speaker. However, the list did not include a section that said the list had to go to Carlson, which was decided on later, as per CNN.
While the House speaker could have given the responsibility of sorting through the footage and presenting it to his committees, a source close to McCarthy claims that he has long been skeptical of having the House GOP look as if it was investigating or litigating the Capitol Hill riot.
The Republicans instead chose to give the security footage to a socially conservative media network. He specifically gave them to Carlson, one of the most vocal voices in conservative media who had been calling for the release of the footage.
The Fox News host has also criticized the House speaker, which causes the move to seem like McCarthy is trying to gain favor with Carlson's camp. The Republican lawmaker is now hoping that his decision to outsource the review of the security footage will appease the right without upsetting moderates and majority makers.
Review of Thousands of Hours of Footage
During a brief phone interview on Wednesday, McCarthy said that his decision was because of his commitment to providing the video footage that lasted more than 40,000 hours. The House speaker said he would make the footage more widely accessible after Carlson has his "exclusive" way with it, according to the New York Times.
The Fox News host also declined to comment on Wednesday regarding his review of the security footage. He only said that he and many staff members looked through the videos and took the situation "very seriously."
The situation is eerily similar to the circumstance of Reality Winner, who became a whistleblower in 2017 while working as a security consultant. This was after she learned that the federal government knew much more about Russia's involvement in hacking the United States election systems than it was telling the people.
The then 25-year-old Army veteran worked to leak one document to the public, which got the desired impact of leading to greater vigilance and amped-up security. However, she was not praised for her actions; instead, she was hounded by federal agents and prosecutors from former President Donald Trump's administration, who was Moscow's preferred candidate, said Inquirer.
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