Calling it an “egregious security breach” that “endangers” U.S. Capitol Police, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Tuesday blasted Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy for reportedly handing over to top Fox News propagandist Tucker Carlson 41,000 hours of video taken of the January 6, 2021 insurrection from all areas of the Capitol. One national security expert is warning that “McCarthy provided access to this video to the biggest propagandist for those who attacked the Capitol.”
“I write with respect to public reports that extreme MAGA Republicans in the House have provided tens of thousands of hours of sensitive Capitol security footage to a FOX News personality who regularly peddles in conspiracy theories and Pro-Putin rhetoric,” Leader Jeffries says in a “Dear Colleague” letter, posted by ABC News’ Lauren Peller.
“The apparent transfer of video footage represents an egregious security breach that endangers the hardworking women and men of the United States Capitol Police, who valiantly defended our democracy with their lives at risk on that fateful day,” Jeffries adds.
Jeffries notes that the U.S. House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack had access to the same footage that McCarthy reportedly gave to Carlson, but the committee members “were able to diligently review the security footage in question, with numerous protocols in place to protect the safety of the Members, police officers and staff who were targeted during the violent insurrection. There is no indication that these same precautionary measures have been taken in connection with the transmission of the video footage at issue.”
And Jeffries calls “the apparent disclosure of sensitive video material … yet another example of the grave threat to the security of the American people represented by the extreme MAGA Republican majority.”
Just how bad could this be for safety of lawmakers, police, and others who work at the U.S. Capitol, not to mention national security?
Calling Carlson “the insurrectionists’ propagandist,” national security and civil liberties journalist Marcy Wheeler warns that “McCarthy provided access to this video to the biggest propagandist for those who attacked the Capitol.”
“Starting almost immediately after some of his viewers attacked the the Capitol, Tucker has been running insanely stupid conspiracy theories, claiming the attack was launched by the Deep State rather than his own viewers and allies. Tucker eventually packaged the propaganda into such a slick propaganda film, it led conservative journalists to leave.”
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“This time around,” Wheeler warns, “Tucker might opt for instructing his viewers how to succeed with the next attack rather than lying about the last one.”
She warns that the footage “could also be shared with foreign adversaries. Tucker has long been chummy with Viktor Orbán, and he himself revealed he had been picked up on intercepts seeking a back channel with Russia.”
The footage of what took place on January 6 is not the only problem per se. As some on Twitter have noted, it “gives away more than just where cameras are. It shows patrol routes, screening processes, response times, staging points, evacuation routes, shelter in place locations.”
“More importantly, though,” one Twitter user noted, “it shows when (and where) MOC [Members of Congress] entered the buildings. Which entries they used (remember, people are creatures of habit.) It shows blind spots for the camer[a]s, choke points for the response, and (depending on the scope of the release) … It will give adversaries a general idea of USCP [U.S. Capitol Police] staffing during various parts of the day. It allows them to see (in real time) how officers get pulled away from locations to respond. They get to see what posts are staffed full time, which ones get part time coverage.”