Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) denounced House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s decision to give Fox News host Tucker Carlson access to surveillance footage from the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, warning that it poses “grave security risks to members of Congress and everyone who works on Capitol Hill.”
McCarthy (R-Calif.) granted Carlson access to 41,000 hours of Capitol surveillance footage from Jan. 6 earlier this month, Axios’ Mike Allen first reported. Excerpts of the footage are expected to be aired by Fox News in the coming weeks.
“There was never any legitimate reason for this footage to remain secret,” Carlson told Axios.
McCarthy echoed a similar belief at a news conference last month when he told reporters that “the American public should actually see all [that] happened instead of a report that’s written [on] a political basis.”
In a letter Wednesday, Schumer said McCarthy is “needlessly exposing the Capitol complex to one of the worst security risks since 9/11.” He added that the footage exposes closely held information about how the Capitol is protected, which could compromise its safety in the event of another attack.
“Releasing security footage publicly reveals the location of security cameras across the Capitol grounds, making it harder and more dangerous for our brave Capitol police officers to do their job,” Schumer wrote in the letter.
He added: “It also risks exposing the carefully laid out and highly guarded plans for the continuity of government, intended to preserve our democracy in the event of an attack. All things anyone who would want to harm our country would love to learn.”
Schumer also criticized McCarthy’s choice of Carlson to grant access to the footage. Carlson has previously defended the Capitol rioters and shared conspiracy theories about who was behind the attack on Congress on the day both houses met to certify the 2020 Electoral College count. He also labeled the hearings in the House select committee’s Jan. 6 investigation as “propaganda.”
“By handpicking Tucker Carlson, Speaker McCarthy laid bare that this sham is simply about pandering to MAGA election deniers, not the truth,” Schumer said in the letter.
Other elected officials have shared similar concerns about McCarthy’s decision.
“McCarthy giving 40,000 hrs of Jan. 6 tape to a pro-Putin journalist is an astounding ethical collapse. What security precautions were taken to keep this from becoming a roadmap for 2024 insurrection?” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said in a tweet.
“Let me be clear, the Senate strongly objects to the release of this sensitive security footage to Tucker Carlson and Fox News,” Schumer said. “The speaker — nor any elected official — does not have the right to jeopardize the safety of senators nor Senate and Capitol staff for their own political purposes.”