Despite conservative GOP members pushing McCarthy to release the Jan. 6 footage from inside the Capitol, he has shown little appetite for the aggressive public re-litigation of what happened. In sharing video with Fox host, McCarthy hits rewind on Jan. 6:
WASHINGTON — Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s decision to grant the Fox News host Tucker Carlson exclusive access to thousands of hours of security footage from inside the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack was his latest move to appease the right wing of his party, this time by effectively outsourcing a bid to reinvestigate the riot to its favorite cable news commentator, who has circulated conspiracy theories about the assault.
After Carlson has had his way with the video, McCarthy said he planned to make the footage more widely available. His team has had internal conversations about providing the footage to other media outlets after Carlson has had his “exclusive” first airing, according to a source familiar with the deliberations who insisted on anonymity to speak about them.For now, however, McCarthy has given a large head start to a purveyor of conspiracy theories about the attack.
In a letter to fellow Democrats on Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the speaker was “needlessly exposing the Capitol complex to one of the worst security risks since 9/11.” “It helps McCarthy solidify his speakership among the right, especially those who held their vote out,” said Ron Bonjean, a veteran Republican strategist. “It shows to conservatives that he’s providing complete transparency, and that’s what Republicans have wanted for a long time. That said, if the footage is misused in some way, this could end up generating another black hole for Republicans on Jan. 6.
McCarthy has risen to power during a tumultuous time on Capitol Hill. Republicans have a slim governing majority, and he had to repeatedly bend to a demanding hard-right flank in his quest for power. He dismissed concerns that releasing the footage would endanger Capitol security, citing the Jan. 6 committee’s depiction of the evacuation of Vice President Mike Pence and others during the assault.
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