Most Jan. 6 footage released by Tucker Carlson was not first reviewed by Capitol Police, USCP attorney says

Washington
CNN
—

House Republican leaders did not let U.S. Capitol police review most of the clips of the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol that were given to Fox News host Tucker Carlson and made public, USCP attorney Tad DiBiase said Friday.

DiBiase told a federal judge he only reviewed one clip — which was previously available to the public — before Carlson released dozens of clips he received from Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

“The approximately 40 other clips, which were not on the sensitive list, were never shown to me or anyone else from the Capitol Police,” DiBiase wrote in a sworn affidavit submitted in the case. charge of a suspected Capitol rioter.

Carlson aired carefully curated clips to portray the pro-Trump crowd as peaceful patriots. The Fox News host falsely claimed the footage provided “conclusive” evidence that Democrats and the House Select Committee investigating Jan. 6 lied to Americans about the day’s events.

According to the Department of Justice, 140 officers were assaulted at the Capitol that day, including 60 Metropolitan Police officers and 80 US Capitol Police officers.

DiBiase said Friday his team gave Republicans on the House Administration Committee access to their Jan. 6, 2021, CCTV footage, but they weren’t asked in advance if the clips could. then be shared with Fox News.

Capitol Police have been concerned for months that some of the CCTV footage is sensitive and, if shared publicly, could pose a security risk. But McCarthy has not backed down from his decision, telling CNN on Friday that law enforcement only objected to one clip and it was resolved.

“We went to the Capitol Police. We asked them: ‘Do you have any concerns about any of these, regardless of the time period?’ They raised one, which was just the one they were concerned about. We changed it,” McCarthy said without giving further details.

Carlson, for his part, said he takes security issues “seriously” and previously claimed he asked Capitol police to review the footage before releasing it. Multiple sources on Capitol Hill, however, previously told CNN that Carlson’s show provided only one clip to review and not the others.

US Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger said earlier this month that Carlson selected favorable clips to mislead his audience about the attack. Manger called Carlson’s descriptions of the events “offensive.”

“The program was chosen from among the quietest moments in our 41,000 hours of video,” Manger wrote in an internal memo obtained by CNN. “The commentary does not provide context for the chaos and violence that occurred before or during these less tense times.”

Manger added that Carlson’s show did not contact the police department “to provide specific context.”