House Speaker Commences Uploading Videos of Jan. 6 Incident onto the Internet

House Republicans, led by Speaker Mike Johnson, have started releasing videos from Jan. 6 online. This is just the first part of more than 40,000 hours of footage that will be made available to the public.

The first batch of about 90 hours of footage was released on Friday through the Committee on House Administration (CHA), and the release will continue over the next few months.

“When I ran for Speaker, I promised to make 44,000 hours of video from the Capitol Hill security cameras on January 6, 2021 accessible to the American people,” Johnson said in a statement.

“Truth and transparency are crucial. Today, we will begin immediately posting videos on a public website and move as quickly as possible to add almost all of the footage, over 40,000 hours, to the website. In the meantime, a public viewing room will ensure that every citizen can view every minute of the videos uncensored.”

In announcing the website, Johnson said more videos will be added over the weekend.

“This decision will provide millions of Americans, criminal defendants, public interest organizations, and the media an ability to see for themselves what happened that day, rather than having to rely upon the interpretation of a small group of government officials,” Johnson added.

Also, faces of private citizens will be blurred to “avoid any persons from being targeted for retaliation,” Johnson said, adding that another 5% of footage will be redacted to protect Capitol security interests.

The release comes after Johnson passed a continuing resolution with bipartisan support, a move that reportedly didn’t sit well with House conservatives. However, Johnson got approval for the temporary measure. Some conservatives demanded the full release of the Jan. 6 footage, which was reported by Axios.

“Doing what he said he would do. Good,” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, posted.

CHA is also providing the videos for appointment viewing on terminals. “Priority access will be given to Members of Congress, defendants charged with crimes related to January 6, 2021, and their counsel, and individuals who were physically harmed on January 6, 2021, at the United States Capitol and their counsel, U.S. news outlets (not limited to press accredited through congressional galleries), non-profit organizations, and the general public, in that order,” CHA wrote.

McCarthy rebuffed calls to release the full tranche of videos, instead electing to limit the viewing to some media members, legal defendants, and certain groups in the Capitol.