Matt Gaetz praises Speaker Mike Johnson for releasing 44,000 hours of Capitol riot footage – as Mike Lee demands probe of Dem-led Jan. 6 committee for ‘hiding’ the video
Republicans are expressing joy after House Speaker Mike Johnson began releasing thousands of hours of surveillance footage from the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
The first tranche of approximately 90 hours of footage was released on a public commission website Friday, with the remainder of the 44,000 hours expected to be booked in the coming months.
Rep. Matt Gaetz, who led the impeachment of Johnson’s predecessor Kevin McCarthy, praised the new speaker for keeping his promise to the caucus to release the footage.
“HE’S NOT LYING,” Gaetz wrote in a post on X. “If he says he’s going to do something, he’s going to do it.”
Other Republicans in Congress, including Rep. Troy Nehls and Sen. Mike Lee, called for new investigations and accused the former Democratic-led Jan. 6 House Committee of hiding some of the footage.
Republicans express joy after House Speaker Mike Johnson began releasing thousands of hours of surveillance footage of the riot at the US Capitol
The video provides a bird’s-eye view of the Capitol complex as hundreds of then-President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the building in an attempt to prevent the certification of Joe Biden’s election.
Conservative activist Charlie Kirk Posted one of the new clips, which allege that Capitol Police “facilitated the passage of protesters through the building.”
In reality, the footage appears to show officers blocking a hallway and directing rioters to an exit, and follows other clips from the same camera showing some protesters being held in flexible handcuffs.
Referring to the clip, Lee posted on
‘Maybe they never looked for it. Maybe they haven’t even questioned their own story,” he said, referring to the two Republican members of the House of Representatives Jan. 6 committee, both of whom are no longer in Congress.
Cheney responded in her own
Lee replied, “Liz, we’ve seen images like that a million times. You made sure we saw that – and nothing else. It’s the other things – what you’ve deliberately hidden from us – that we find so disturbing.”
Rep. Matt Gaetz, who led the impeachment of Johnson’s predecessor Kevin McCarthy, praised the new speaker for keeping his promise to release the footage.
“We need to investigate the J6 committee,” Lee said in another post. “Given the evidence they apparently withheld, how much footage (and how many other recordings) do you think Nancy Pelosi and the J6 Committee deliberately lost or destroyed?”
Nehls, a member of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus, wrote in his own post: “The J6 committee was a sham. Then I knew. Everyone knows now. Let’s investigate the researchers.’
The newly released footage is a collection of clips, some just two seconds long, showing a mix of empty hallways, crowds breaking through windows, a handful of protesters wandering through the Capitol as police mill around.
The new release does not include some of the day’s most dramatic and violent videos, which previously emerged during the Jan. 6 committee hearings, and criminal proceedings against the rioters.
More than 1,202 defendants have been charged in connection with the breach, including defendants from nearly all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
The DOJ said earlier this month that approximately 418 defendants have been charged with assaulting, resisting or obstructing officers or Capitol staff during the riot.
In recent months, the Republican Party-led House Administration Committee has made the video available by appointment only to members of the media, defendants and a limited number of other people.
By expanding this access to the general public, Johnson is fulfilling one of the promises he made to the most conservative members of his party last month.
The footage shows members of Congress and staff members running to safety after the breach
In some of the recently released footage, some rioters are seen being held in flexible restraints
The grab bag of footage also reveals some of the more mundane moments of January 6
“This decision will give millions of Americans, criminal defendants, public interest groups and the media the opportunity to see for themselves what happened that day, rather than having to rely on the interpretation of a small group of government officials,” Johnson said. a statement.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump congratulated the speaker “for having the courage and determination” to release the footage.
Johnson’s move will grant the general public a stunning level of access to sensitive and graphic security footage from January 6.
Critics have warned that the video could jeopardize the safety of staff and members of the Capitol complex if it ends up in the wrong hands.
The hours of footage provide information not only about the shocking attacks rioters carried out on U.S. Capitol Police as they breached the building, but also how the rioters entered the building and what routes lawmakers used to flee to safety.
DailyMail.com has contacted the Capitol Police for comment.
Johnson said the committee is processing the footage to blur individuals’ faces “to prevent individuals from being targeted for retaliation of any kind,” but the clips released Friday appeared to be unredacted.
He added that an estimated 5 percent of the footage will not be released publicly because it “may contain sensitive security information relating to the building’s architecture.”