(Ken Silva, Headline USA) House Speaker Mike Johnson released on Friday some, but not all, of the footage from the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill protest-turned-riot.
“This is another step towards keeping the promises I made when I was elected to be your Speaker,” Johnson said, providing a link to where the footage can be found.
However, much to the dissatisfaction of Jan. 6 defendants, the footage is apparently being released in batches.
“The way that the January 6 tapes will be released will be through a website, where any member of the public can observe the tapes being released. My expectation is that they will be released in tranches, and that the first tranche will be released in days, not weeks,” Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said Friday.
According to CBS reporter Scott MacFarlane, about 90 hours of footage is available on the website so far. GOP lawmakers seek to post nearly all of the 40,000-plus hours of footage within the coming months, he said.
ALERT: House Administration Committee Republicans are posting a public website with 90 hours of Jan 6 footage. And a senior GOP committee aide said the committee will seek to post nearly all of the thousands of hours of footage in the coming months.
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) November 17, 2023
However, some staffer faces will be “blurred,” he reported.
“That is a remarkably… ambitious … goal. To screen, edit, ‘blur,’ and post thousands of hours of video… in the matter of months,” MacFarlane noted. “If we sat down right now .. just to watch 44,000 hours of video. Just to watch it. It would take five years to do so.”
MacFarlane’s news upset Jan. 6 defendant William Pope, who’s been calling for all the footage to be released at once. Pope has alleged that the U.S. government is withholding exculpatory evidence, and that surveillance footage may have been tampered with.
“Americans will never trust blurred and edited J6 footage!” Pope said on Friday, reacting to Johnson’s announcement.
“It appears that the House Admin Committee has only uploaded about 90 hours of J6 footage, and download is prevented. This is garbage effort!” Pope later added.
It appears that the House Admin Committee has only uploaded about 90 hours of J6 footage, and download is prevented. This is garbage effort!
— 🇺🇸 (@FreeStateWill) November 17, 2023
Pope is right. But the limited footage released outside the Justice Department’s channels has been revelatory.
For instance, footage obtained by Tucker Carlson showed that Jacob Chansley—also known as QAnon Shaman—peacefully strolling through the Capitol with a police escort—undermining the narrative that he was a violent insurrectionist.
More substantially, Blaze Media claims to have reviewed footage that contradicts sworn testimony that a Capitol Police Special Agent gave at the Oath Keepers’ sedition trial last year.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
