List of troubling questions from Jan. 6 keeps growing as more video is made public
The unveiling of some of the 41,000 hours of video from Jan. 6, 2021, that was hidden from public view for more than two years has sparked a new national conversation about just how much still isn’t known about the Capitol incursion.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson was given exclusive access by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to U.S. Capitol security videos and other footage, most of it hidden from public view.
If Carlson’s first broadcast special on the footage that aired on March 6 is any indication, the prevailing Jan. 6 narrative is on life support, and the day’s legacy of troubling questions continues to deepen as a result.
Through the news media, the public has had limited access to the nearly 4.7 years’ worth of video captured by security cameras, police bodycams, and videos taken by tens of thousands of Jan. 6 protesters.
Much of it, however, has been hidden under a judicial protective order. It’s unclear if Congress, as the custodian of Capitol Police security video, provided its entire collection of Jan. 6 video to the Department of Justice. Prosecutors have for more than a year referred to 14,000 hours of video used in the prosecution of alleged Jan. 6 crimes.
Well before Carlson envisioned his highly watched March 6–7 specials, defense attorneys on Jan. 6 criminal cases complained that video and other evidence beneficial to their clients have not been disclosed by the government as required under Supreme Court rulings.
With Carlson’s revelations about the “QAnon Shaman,” Jacob Chansley, and mysterious Jan. 6 figure Ray Epps, the cries from defense attorneys about exculpatory evidence will likely increase in the coming weeks and months.
Since Jan. 6 was arguably the most photographed and videoed event in recorded history, the truth about the day should be easy to discern.