Reports released Friday indicate that newly elected Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson (R-LA) could be resuming the gradual release of the January 6th surveillance footage promised, and later stalled under his predecessor Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).
Steve Barker of The Pragmatic Constitutionalist, a contributor for Blaze Media announced in a post to X that the process for approval has already begun.
He wrote, “I’m pleased to announce the approval process for
@theblaze to release #Jan6 Capitol CCTV videos and images is back on track under@SpeakerJohnson’s sanction. I will post images and an official statement here on X later today or first thing tomorrow. Stay tuned.”
🚨BREAKING🚨: I'm pleased to announce the approval process for @theblaze to release #Jan6 Capitol CCTV videos and images is back on track under @SpeakerJohnson's sanction. I will post images and an official statement here on X later today or first thing tomorrow. Stay tuned.
— Steve Baker – TPC (@TPC4USA) November 3, 2023
Nick Sortor, an independent journalist shared this information as well in a separate post on the social networking platform.
As recently as September 18th. Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL) was still issuing warnings to then-Speaker McCarthy demanding “Full release of J6 tapes.” In the run-up to Gaetz spearheading the removal of McCarthy as Speaker he advised McCarthy, “Mr. Speaker, you are out of compliance with the agreement that allowed you to assume this role.”
It is likely that in the closed-door discussions that led to Speaker Johnson’s leadership, a similar condition was given to the Louisiana Republican.
When McCarthy released a limited amount of footage to Tucker Carlson in March, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called upon Fox News to shut the prominent host down. He claimed, “our democracy depends on it”.
“These lies continue tonight. Rupert Murdoch, who was admitted they were lies, and said he regretted it has a special obligation to stop Tucker Carlson from going on tonight. Now that he’s seen how he has perverted and slimed the truth and from letting him go on again and again and again. Not because their views deserve such a propium, but because our democracy depends on it,” he said.
Even Minority Leader and alleged Republican Mitch McConnell claimed it was a “mistake” for Carlson to broadcast the footage he was given.
Naturally, Carlson aired the tapes.
🚨BREAKING: Bombshell J6 footage released by Tucker Carlson reveals Ray Epps LIED in SWORN TESTIMONY and Democrats knew. pic.twitter.com/DgeFXSFuLl
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) March 7, 2023
Six weeks later, Tucker Carlson was terminated by Fox News. After the release, McCarthy vowed to turn over all 42,000 hours of footage, as reported by Trending Politics.
“I think it’s a better for transparency that anyone can make their own decision up And as we walk through these these are many more hours of tapes in the January 6 committee told us It’s not 14,000 it’s 42,000 hours.”
Throughout the rest of his term as Speaker, this vow went unfulfilled. In the months that followed, the remaining January 6th footage was not released.