'No basis for further delaying': Top news organizations write McCarthy requesting access to Jan. 6 footage

25 February 2023

A group of top news organizations have requested access to Jan. 6 footage from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), NBC reports.

The request in the form of a letter comes days after McCarthy handed over nearly 41,000 hours of Jan. 6 footage to Fox News' Tucker Carlson.

"We understand that, in your capacity as Speaker of the House of Representatives, you recently provided the Tucker Carlson Tonight television program with access to certain Congressional records — specifically, previously unavailable video footage from the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021," wrote attorney Laura Handman. "We write to request that the News Organizations be granted access to these materials."

NBC, which is listed in the letter among the outlets requesting access, reports other organizations include The Associated Press, MSNBC, CNBC, Noticias Telemundo, The New York Times and The Washington Post.

CBS News also reports to be included, along with CNN, Politico, ProPublica, ABC, Axios, Advance, Scripps, the Los Angeles Times, and Gannett.

According to CBS, lawyer Charles Tobin wrote, "Without full public access to the complete historical record, there is concern that an ideologically-based narrative of an already polarizing event will take hold in the public consciousness, with destabilizing risks to the legitimacy of Congress, the Capitol Police, and the various federal investigations and prosecutions of January 6 crimes."

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), who describes Carlson as a "a pro-Putin, pro-Orbán, pro-autocrat propogandist," said earlier this week if McCarthy made footage "available to one network, he may as well make it available to all network," noting Fox News will "cherrypick" the clips that best reflect the outlet's far-right talking points.

NBC reports:

McCarthy last year told the head of the Jan. 6 committee — a panel he opposed — that it was 'imperative that all the information collected [from the probe] be preserved not just for institutional prerogatives but for transparency to the American people.'

The House Speaker's office has not responded to inquiries from NBC nor CBS, although the congressman said in a recent interview with The NYT, "I was asked in the press about these tapes, and I said they do belong to the American public. I think sunshine lets everybody make their own judgment."

Still, Handman says, "There is no basis for further delaying granting this access — to these News Organizations or any other media outlets that make similar requests.

NBC's full report is available at this link. CBS News' report is here.

WATCH: Rep. Raskin slams McCarthy for giving 'pro-Putin, pro-autocrat' Tucker Carlson Jan. 6 footage

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