The “Twitter Files” serve as a model for how U.S. Capitol security footage from January 6, 2021, could be released to the public, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said on Sunday.
McCarthy told Maria Bartiromo, host of Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” he is looking to release the tapes because of the “politicization” he believes has been fostered by former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and the January 6 Committee.
The speaker referred to how Twitter, under the leadership of CEO Elon Musk, gave access to troves of internal communications to a group of independent journalists who have been sharing details via “Twitter Files” threads.
“The best way to handle this is exactly the way Elon Musk [did]: Just put all the information out there and let people see what is truth and what is not,” McCarthy said. “So, the best way to do that is to release the tapes. People can know for themselves instead of picking and choosing what views they want people to see.”
.@SpeakerMcCarthy: I don’t know what’s in the January 6 tapes, but I think they need to be released so the people can see for themselves what transpired. pic.twitter.com/XXUnM7pUWD
— The Dirty Truth (Josh) (@AKA_RealDirty) January 15, 2023
Capitol Police say the system of cameras captured more than 14,000 hours of footage between noon and 8 p.m. on the day a crowd of people entered the U.S. Capitol, disrupting lawmakers meeting to certify President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.
One particular member of the House Republican conference, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), has hit the airwaves insisting this footage “would give more full context to that day rather than the cherry-picked moments the January 6 Committee tried to use to inflame and further divide our country.”
In an interview with CNN, Gaetz said the footage could provide exculpatory evidence to January 6 defendants. He also dismissed concerns about how disclosing the tapes could jeopardize security. “I think that it’s an argument made by the Department of Justice because they don’t want to expose the extent to which there might have been federal assets or agents enhancing criminal acuity,” he said.
.@RepMattGaetz Responds To Claim That Releasing The 14k Hours Of 1/6 Footage Would Jeopardize Security
"I think that it's an argument made by the DOJ because they don't want to expose the extent to which there might have been federal assets or agents enhancing criminal acuity." pic.twitter.com/Jv1Fycyfyz
— The Columbia Bugle 🇺🇸 (@ColumbiaBugle) January 15, 2023
McCarthy told reporters last week he wants to be “very thoughtful” about releasing Capitol security footage but stressed that he is “engaged to do that.”
The speaker told Bartiromo on Sunday that he had not yet seen the videos.
“I just think they should be released,” he added.