AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana
Newly elected GOP Speaker Mike Johnson released a trove of tapes concerning the Capitol riot from January 6th, 2021 on a Friday afternoon.
The release contains more than 40,000 hours of security footage from the Capitol during the infamous riot. However, Johnson did note that around 5% of the total footage is being censored in order to protect “sensitive security information related to the building architecture.”
Johnson’s decision comes as some conservative lawmakers in the House caucus have begun criticizing him for the passage of a bipartisan stopgap bill to avoid a government shutdown.
“Today, we will begin immediately posting video on a public website and move as quickly as possible to add to the website nearly all of the footage, more than 40,000 hours,” Johnson wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
When I ran for Speaker, I promised to make accessible to the American people the 44,000 hours of video from Capitol Hill security taken on January 6, 2021. Truth and transparency are critical. Today, we will begin immediately posting video on a public website and move as quickly…
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) November 17, 2023
He added, “This decision will provide millions of Americans, criminal defendants, public interest organizations, and the media an ability to see for themselves what happened that day, rather than having to rely upon the interpretation of a small group of government officials.”
Moreover, the faces of private citizens have been blurred on the unreleased to “avoid any persons from being targeted for retaliation of any kind.”
Minutes before making the announcement, Johnson posted a link to his social media giving the public access to the video.
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