Connect with us

RIGHT WING EXTREMISM

‘Property of the American People’: McCarthy Blasted for Handing Over 41,000 Hours of J6 Video to ‘Liar’ Tucker Carlson

Published

on

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy is being blasted for reportedly handing over 41,000 hours of video from the January 6 insurrection to a single source, Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, who is seen by many as a right-wing propagandist who has denied the events that day were an insurrection. The release was made last week –  the same week as a court filing from Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox News revealed top brass and talent, from Rupert Murdoch to Carlson, knew Trump’s “Big Lie” was false yet promoted the false clams that led to the attack on the U.S. Capitol.

“These tapes are the property of the American people. McCarthy has stolen them from us and given them to the mouthpiece for the Jan 6 attack,” says attorney, journalist, and SiriusXM host Dean Obeidallah.

“We need lawsuits by every other media outlet seeking a copy of these records! These are the public’s records- not Kevin McCarthy’s personal video files!!!” Obeidallah adds.

READ MORE: ‘Treasonous’: Marjorie Taylor Greene Slammed for Celebrating President’s Day by Calling for a ‘National Divorce’

Last month U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz said one of the secret deals McCarthy made with far-right Republicans  to become Speaker was that he would release the video to the public – releasing it to Fox News is very different.

“Gaetz hinted in a tweet,” CNN’s Melanie Zanona reported January 12,” that was part of their hand shake deal, and confirmed to CNN that was what he was referring to. It shows how the full extent of McCarthy’s concessions still not fully known.”

“Earlier today,” Zanona continued, “when asked at a press conference about how some Republicans had called on former-Speaker Nancy Pelosi to release all the security footage from January 6, McCarthy said, ‘Yeah, I think the public should see what happened.'”

Victor Shi, the youngest elected Delegate for Joe Biden in 2020, and a writer, speaker, organizer, and activist, calls the move “the definition of state-run media,” and “a betrayal to our nation.”

Former Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times editor Mark Jacob called it “outrageous,” and said the “Jan. 6 footage is the people’s property, not Kevin McCarthy’s. And Tucker Carlson is a proven liar who will no doubt abuse this material to lie further. The coup to overthrow our democracy is ongoing.”

READ MORE: Attorney Behind Texas Vigilante Abortion Ban Drafting Similar Book Ban Bill to Sue Librarians: Report

Jacob also notes that Congress is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act, meaning they cannot demand the footage for themselves through that venue. But he adds, “I hope some news outlet goes into court and tries” to intervene.

Popular Information founder Judd Legum: “The only reason to give the footage exclusively to Tucker is McCarthy knows the footage will only reinforce the GOP’s preferred narrative if it is selectively released by an unrepentant manipulator and liar.”

And Rolling Stone politics reporter Nikki Mccann Ramírez says, “This comes on the heels of court revelations that Fox anchors, including Tucker, knew they were misleading the public about the 2020 election. Fox is the propaganda arm of the GOP and McCarthy knows it.”

Continue Reading
Click to comment
 
 

Enjoy this piece?

… then let us make a small request. The New Civil Rights Movement depends on readers like you to meet our ongoing expenses and continue producing quality progressive journalism. Three Silicon Valley giants consume 70 percent of all online advertising dollars, so we need your help to continue doing what we do.

NCRM is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. From unflinching coverage of religious extremism, to spotlighting efforts to roll back our rights, NCRM continues to speak truth to power. America needs independent voices like NCRM to be sure no one is forgotten.

Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Help ensure NCRM remains independent long into the future. Support progressive journalism with a one-time contribution to NCRM, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click here to donate by check.

law

Arkansas Senator Files Bill to Abolish State Library, Give Education Department Control

Published

on

The right-wing war on knowledge continues as an Arkansas state senator filed a bill Thursday to abolish the State Library as well as the library board.

Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Jonesboro), along with State Rep. Wayne Long (R-Bradford), filed Senate Bill 536 on Thursday. The bill would not just remove all references to the State Library from existing laws, but also put the state’s other libraries under the control of the Arkansas Department of Education.

A previous version of the bill, SB184, would have also shuttered the Arkansas Educational Television Commission, which oversees the state’s PBS stations, according to the Arkansas Advocate.

READ MORE: Clean Up Alabama Wants State to Dump ‘Marxist’ American Library Association

The Arkansas State Library is not just a regular library. In addition to providing information to state agencies and lawmakers, it also distributes funding to the other libraries around the state. Under SB536, the Department of Education would take on all its responsibilities. The State Library is officially a part of the Department of Education already, but it operates as an independent organization.

While the proposal may sound like a shuffling-around of duties, the main thrust of the bill is to allow more direct control over the Arkansas library system by controlling the purse strings. The bill would keep libraries from distributing “age-inappropriate materials” to those under 17 years old and sex education materials from those under 12. Libraries would also have to set up a system where those in the community could request that certain items be banned for minors, according to KARK-TV. Those that don’t meet these restrictions will have state funding pulled.

Earlier legislation filed by Sullivan and passed into law includes Act 242, which ended the requirement for library directors to have a master’s degree in library science, the Advocate reported.  Sullivan, however, was unsuccessful with a proposed amendment to another bill that would strip funding from libraries affiliated with the American Library Association—meaning most, if not all of them. That amendment was rejected this week over concerns the language in it was too broad, according to the Advocate.

The ALA has been a target of right-wing politicians and activists upset with its free speech stance and fights against censorship. Sullivan in particular has objected to a provision in the ALA’s Library Bill of Rights protecting library access for all ages, the Advocate reported. He also called for the state’s chapter of the ALA to be defunded—despite the fact that it receives no state funding.

Image via Shutterstock

Continue Reading

BIGOTRY

Texas to Investigate Anonymous Complaint Teachers Used Trans Student’s Pronouns

Published

on

After a Moms for Liberty member claimed that teachers at a Texas high school used a trans student’s new name and proper pronouns, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott ordered an investigation.

On February 13, Denise Bell of the right wing, anti-LGBTQ group Moms for Liberty, addressed the Houston Independent School Board. She read a statement that she said came from the parents of a trans student at Bellaire High School. The parents were upset that teachers used the student’s new name and pronouns, according to Erin in the Morning. The anonymous statement Bell read said that the change happened without parental consent, and “goes against our Christian faith, the advice of [their] therapist and quite frankly common sense.”

Bell then claimed that the school district was “purposely and secretively transitioning minors.”

READ MORE: GOP Candidate Complaining She Wasn’t Allowed to ‘Have Kids Laugh At’ Transgender Students in Viral Video Draws Rebuke

State Representative Steve Toth—who represents a different district than the school is in—informed Abbott of the complaint in a letter on February 26. Two weeks later, Abbott replied to Toth’s letter, revealing he told the Texas Education Agency to investigate the Bellaire High School, accusing the teachers of helping “to ‘socially transition’ a student—violating the express wishes of the child’s mother,” which Abbott called “inappropriate and potentially unlawful.”

Abbott directed the TEA to not just determine whether or not the teachers did indeed use the trans student’s name and pronouns, but also open a full investigation into the school. TEA was told to find out if the school had also violated “policies concerning sexual education curriculum, parental consent for communications with students, mental health services or guidance to students, and parent grievances”; if any school employees had “engaged in misconduct”; and whether any student “has been subjected to abuse or neglect.”

That last one has a footnote on “abuse or neglect,” referring to a statement from President Donald Trump’s March 4 speech in front of a joint session of Congress:

“A few years ago, January Littlejohn and her husband discovered that their daughter’s school had secretly socially transitioned their 13-year-old little girl. Teachers and administrators conspired to deceive January and her husband, while encouraging her daughter to use a new name and pronouns—‘they/them’ pronouns, actually—all without telling January, who is here tonight and is now a courageous advocate against this form of child abuse.”

This is not the first time Abbott and his administration have attacked the state’s trans community. In his “State of the State Address” this year, he said that teachers who discuss gender transition with students should be fired, according to KTRK-TV. Texas has also banned trans students from sports as well as the use of puberty blockers in cases of minors experiencing gender dysphoria, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Image via Shutterstock

Continue Reading

AMERICA FIRST?

Tim Walz: ‘Racism’ Motivates MAGA Movement to Pardon Derek Chauvin

Published

on

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz didn’t mince words when asked what the motivation was for the new movement among MAGA Republicans to convince President Donald Trump to pardon Derek Chauvin, the former police officer who killed George Floyd in 2020.

“Racism. It’s racist. OK? That’s what I believe,” Walz said in an interview with Semafor published Wednesday.

The calls to pardon Chauvin started with an online petition earlier this month, according to The Independent. The pardon push picked up steam this week when conservative commentator Ben Shapiro of the Daily Wire launched a webseries, “The Case of Derek Chauvin.” Shapiro claims the officer was convicted on “extraordinarily scanty evidence,” saying Floyd did not die from having Chauvin’s knee on his neck for over nine minutes, but rather from drugs in Floyd’s system and heart disease.

READ MORE: Derek Chauvin Sentenced to 22-and-a-Half Years for Murder of George Floyd – Less Than Maximum Possible Sentence

Walz, however, disputes this interpretation of events.

“This was a man who murdered George Floyd on TV,” Walz said, adding that a pardon “would undermine the faith in the system.”

The White House, however, has denied that a Chauvin pardon is in Trump’s plans. Earlier this month, Trump said he hadn’t even heard about a push to pardon Floyd’s killer, and on Wednesday, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt repeated that a pardon is “not something he’s considering at this time,” according to The Grio.

However, some commentators, like The Hill’s Juan Williams are skeptical, pointing out that Trump has pardoned two police officers convicted of killing a Black man in the first days of his second term.

In 2020, after the killing, Trump condemned Chauvin.

“We all saw what we saw. It’s hard to conceive anything other than what we did see. It should have never happened,” Trump said.

If Trump were to pardon Chauvin, it would be largely moot. Presidents can only pardon those convicted on federal charges. Chauvin was convicted on both federal and Minnesota state charges. In the event Trump cleared the federal charges, the main thing that would happen is that Chauvin would be moved from the federal prison in Big Spring, Texas to a Minnesota state prison.

Minnesota sentenced Chauvin to 22 and a half years for murder; on the federal level, he was sentenced to 21 years for violating Floyd’s civil rights. Barring a federal pardon, the two sentences are running concurrently, not consecutively.

Image via Shutterstock

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2020 AlterNet Media.