Jamie Raskin Claims Jan 6 Footage Is Giving A ‘Diagram’ To ‘Future Insurrectionists’

Far-left U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) defended the January 6 Committee’s decision to withhold security camera footage from the protests, arguing that it represented a “security risk” despite the fact that citizens are allowed to book tours of the Capitol Building.

CNN host Wolf Blitzer asked Raskin for his reaction to House Speaker Mike Johnson’s decision to release the footage, as well as the reasoning behind the committee’s decision to withhold the tapes.

“Speaker Johnson is clearly on the run from the Maga, the extreme Maga caucus. Uhm, Chip Roy and the strongest pro-Trump elements,” Raskin said. The January 6 committee member went on to claim that Johnson was already facing a motion to vacate due to last week’s continuing budget resolution and decided to release the tapes in order to “placate” the “extreme Maga Republicans.”

“Obviously, Tucker Carlson did his best to torture out of tens of thousands of hours of footage, some kind of concocted story, which of course went nowhere. We went through all of that,” Raskin said, referencing a previous batch of footage that was released by the then-Fox News host. Carlson’s footage showed protesters walking in an orderly fashion and also showed how Capitol Police officers escorted Jacob Chansley, commonly referred to as the “January 6 shaman,” to the Senate chambers.

“We had more than a thousand witnesses come and talk to the January 6th committee. All of it on a bipartisan basis in search of the truth, not in search of lies. And most of the witnesses, of course, were Republicans, people in the Trump administration, people in the Trump family, and we delivered a complete report. Beyond the partisan nature of it, it’s truly a security risk what they’re doing,” Raskin told CNN.

“The reason why the Capitol Police have opposed releasing tens of thousands of hours from every House office building, every Senate office building, every part of the Capitol is because it’s like giving a diagram to future insurrectionists and terrorists and anybody who wants to invade our body,” he continued. “So if the Speaker thinks it can be done safely or securely, why doesn’t he rely on the Capitol Police to determine what should be given out and what shouldn’t be given out? What shouldn’t be given out? Because that’s the principal concern here, which is security.”

Despite Raskin’s claims of security risks, the public is free to book tours of the Capitol Building.