Fox News host Tucker Carlson has been granted exclusive access to 41,000 hours of Capitol videotape from the events of January 6, 2021, by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).
The massive trove of public documents includes footage taken from multiple camera angles from all over the Capitol grounds. Carlson’s producers have been sifting through the video since earlier this month. Carlson, who has long questioned the official accounts of the events of that day, believes that the footage will reveal what actually happened and has argued that there is no legitimate reason for the material to remain secret.
Tucker Carlson Announces That His Show Has Been Granted Access To 44k Hours Of Footage From January 6th
"We believe that access is unfettered. We believe we have secured the right to see whatever we want to see."
"We're going to spend the rest of this week taking a look at it,… https://t.co/sK7691S0n8 pic.twitter.com/GnPvtbENg5
— The Columbia Bugle 🇺🇸 (@ColumbiaBugle) February 21, 2023
There is a discrepancy between the number of hours – reported earlier as 14,000 – and the actual amount, which is now revealed to be 41,000. Carlson’s shows on Fox News and the streaming service Fox Nation will feature the videos in the coming days. Excerpts will begin airing this week.
Many Republicans and other observers expect that the actual evidence will contradict the narrative pushed by Democrats over the last two years regarding how things happened that day.
Democrats have opposed the release of the tapes, with House Homeland Security Committee ranking member Bennie Thompson (D-MS) expressing concern that the release of the material could be “used irresponsibly.”
The former co-chair of the now-dissolved January 6 Committee claims there are “significant security concerns at stake” and that McCarthy owes the American people an explanation of why he has granted Carlson access to sensitive footage.
Carlson, who has previously described the events of January 6 as “a forgettably minor outbreak by recent standards,” has accused the select committee of “lying” about what happened that day. In 2021, he produced the documentary series “Patriot Purge,” which tells an alternative story of the protests and features at least one interviewee who suggests the event may have been a “false flag” operation.
McCarthy has said that he thinks “the American public should actually see all that happened instead of a report that’s written on a political basis.”
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), a central figure in the highly contested election of McCarthy as Speaker last month, appeared on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” recently and called for the release of all of the security video from January 6.
Gaetz told Carlson: “Every time, from the JFK files to 9/11 to now January 6, it’s our own government — it’s our own Department of Justice — that seems to stand in the way of transparency.”
