Airing of Jan 6 Videos Assailed
For two years, the videos from the January 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol were under the control of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif). Only a small fraction of the 41,000 hours of video were ever shown to the American people. The claim that the events at the Capitol constituted a "violent and deadly insurrection" was endlessly repeated by members of Pelosi's hand-picked special committee and the majority of the mass media outlets.
The new House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif) initiated a policy aimed at full disclosure of the rest of the videos. On Monday, March 6, the first small batch of previously concealed videos were shown on the Tucker Carlson show on Fox News. These videos showed non-violent protesters being let into the Capitol by the Capitol Police. The alleged leader of a coup--QAnon Shaman Jacob Chansley--was shown being calmly escorted through the building by the police who unlocked a door to the Senate Chamber where Chansley made a public statement thanking them for their assistance and praying for trheir safety as they battled violent intruders elsewhere in the building.
Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), one of the two token Republicans Pelosi allowed to serve on her special committee, called the airing of these videos "disgusting. Our committee carefully selected only the most relevant videos to illustrate the point that the January 6 incursion was the most deadly threat to our government since the Civil war. The sole purpose of those calling for full disclosure of all the videos is to dilute and undermine our committee's findings."
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called for "the immediate cessation of any further shameful attempts to challenge the veracity of the account carefully constructed by the forces striving to save our democracy. The heroes of Jan 6--the valiant Capitol Police officer who shot Ashli Babbitt, the members of the House and Senate who skillfully escaped the clutches of Chansley, House Speaker Pelosi who cleverly rejected Trump's offer of National Guard assistance, and the members of the special committee who assembled the insurrection narrative--were all insulted by Carlson's airing of videos not fit for public exposure."
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ken) echoed Schumer's complaints, saying "I have in my hand a letter from the Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger confirming the accuracy of the special committee's findings. There is no need for any further investigation. The contention that the peaceful behavior of the unarmed persons in the videos Carlson showed casts doubt on the insurrection charge must not be permitted to confuse the public. Chansley may have appeared to be acting calmly, but his buffalo-horn hat and painted face terrorized me and many of my colleagues, causing us to run away and look timid--damaging our reputations as the legitimate rulers of the United States of America."
A crack in the solid front opposing further examination of the videos came from the special committee chairman Rep. Bennie Johnson (D-Miss), who expressed dismay that "I never saw the videos shown by Carlson before. Staff had the responsibility to bring everything important to us. Now, I feel like I'm out on a limb that could be sawed off. I'm being advised to just 'brazen it out,' that the media will regain control of the situation, Carlson will be silenced, and McCarthy will be persuaded to rescind his decision to release all the videos, but I'm not sure that concealing this evidence from the public is the right thing to do."
Meanwhile, Albert Watkins, the attorney representing Jacob Chansley, pointed out that his client's rights were violated. "The prosecution has a legal obligation to provide exculpatory evidence to the defense," he said. "Instead, my client was put under duress and threatened with decades of imprisonment if he didn't accept a plea to a lesser charge." Attorney General Merrick Garland excused the violation of Chansley's legal rights, citing a poker analogy, saying "the threat of decades in prison was a 'bluff.' Watkins advised his client to 'fold.' So, regardless of the lack of evidence for Chansley being engaged in any violence he still loses the 'pot.' I guess his self-image as a courageous patriot will take a hit, but that's his own fault for not calling our bluff."
