House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is pledging to release all of the security footage from the U.S. Capitol riot after receiving bipartisan pushback for giving Fox News’ Tucker Carlson exclusive access which allowed the prime-time host to portray the event as a peaceful protest.
The California Republican said Sunday he will allow other news organizations to view the tapes but did not specify timing amid lobbying from outlets to see the thousands of hours of footage.
“I didn’t give [Mr. Carlson] the tapes, I allowed him to come see them, just like an exclusive with anybody else. My goal here is transparency,” Mr. McCarthy said on “Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo.” “We will slowly roll out to every individual news agency [so] they could come see the tapes as well.”
He went on to accuse the former House Jan. 6 Committee of creating a false narrative around the day’s violent events, despite some Republicans on Capitol Hill criticizing suggestions it was a peaceful protest.
Mr. McCarthy also said there was a double standard for jailing Jan. 6 rioters but not those who caused damages in cities across the country during racial justice protests in 2020 that turned violent.
“Why did I watch cities burn … and nobody arrested there? I think we should have equal justice across this country, and we should have transparency,” he said. “I think transparency is best and allow the American public to see it all. And we need to have equal justice across this nation.”
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
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