The lack of scrutiny over January 6th surveillance footage by the select committee assigned to investigate the Capitol riot has come to light.
According to CNN reporter Alayna Treene, the revelation was made after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) permitted controlled access to the video for House members.
This move will allow the entire Congress to decide for themselves what transpired on that fateful day.
The select committee tasked with investigating the riot consisted of nine members of Congress who spent 18 months probing the event.
However, not one committee member reviewed the surveillance footage, which is the primary evidence.
Committee co-chair Bennie Thompson admitted that instead of personally reviewing the footage, they outsourced this task to a team of employees.
“I’m actually not aware of any member of the committee who had access. We had a team of employees who kind of went through the video,” he said.
This week, Fox News’ Tucker Carlson aired never-before-seen footage from Jan 6 events at Capitol Hill that appeared to dispel several narratives pushed by the Democrat-controlled House Select Committee and the media.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy granted “Tucker Carlson Tonight” an exclusive first look at over 40,000 hours of security camera footage from the Capitol Building that was hidden from the public for over two years.
The first batch of footage showed Trump supporters peacefully touring the building, but the footage of the rioters overwhelmingly consumed the news coverage of Jan 6.
Carlson’s assessment of the footage is that it disproves the claims made by lawmakers and the media regarding the events of Jan. 6, stating that they were “lying.”
Capitol police officers reportedly escorted Jacob Chansley, also known as the “QAnon Shaman,” around the building without incident, as shown in the footage.
Carlson raised questions about why Chansley was not arrested if he was committing a serious crime, as Democrats have suggested.
The second batch of footage contradicts the narrative pushed by Democrats and the media that the events of Jan 6 were a “deadly insurrection,” pointing out that only one person, Ashli Babbitt, was shot and killed by a Capitol police officer.
The death of police officers often cited by Democrats and the media resulted from suicide or natural causes, not from the riot itself.
Carlson highlighted Officer Brian Sicknick’s behavior in the footage, which showed him walking normally and wearing a helmet as he guided Trump supporters out of the building, contradicting the media’s narrative that he died of a head injury sustained during the riot.
According to Carlson, the Jan 6 House Select Committee allegedly reviewed the footage of Sicknick but chose not to include it in their hearings or final report, despite its potential to disprove the “powerful and politically useful lie” Democrats told about Jan 6.
The third batch of footage features Ray Epps, who was caught urging Trump supporters to enter the Capitol building. Contrary to his claims, Epps was seen on the grounds at least 30 minutes after he had allegedly left and headed back to his hotel.
Carlson also debunked claims made by Democratic lawmakers that GOP colleagues aided rioters before Jan 6. For example, Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., was shown giving a tour in a congressional building to constituents, none of whom were linked to the so-called “insurrection.”
Carlson further disputed viral footage that supposedly showed Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., “fleeing” from the mob during the riot. Instead, the full footage revealed that Hawley was among several lawmakers who were escorted away from the Capitol by police.
