Rep. Bryan Steil defends Speaker Kevin McCarthy's decision to hand over Jan. 6 footage to Fox host Tucker Carlson

WASHINGTON – Wisconsin U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil is standing by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s decision to release thousands of hours of surveillance footage from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol to Fox News host Tucker Carlson despite pushback from Democrats — claiming the move was made in an effort to be transparent.

“I support Speaker McCarthy’s decision to increase transparency for the American people,” said Steil, leader of the House Administration Committee, which oversees Capitol security. “This majority is focused on accountability, transparency and restoring the People’s trust.”

Carlson, a far-right political commentator known for pushing fringe theories, earlier this week announced his team had been given what he believes is “unfettered” access to 44,000 hours of Capitol surveillance footage from the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. He told viewers Monday his team would spend the week reviewing the footage before releasing its findings.

The decision to grant exclusive access to the footage to a partisan personality drew harsh rebuke from Democrats who called the move dangerous, noting the footage was sensitive and suggesting its release could lead to security risks.

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries in a letter to colleagues Tuesday referred to the release as an “example of the grave threat to the security of the American people represented by the extreme MAGA Republican majority.”

“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, a New York Democrat, wrote to colleagues.

Steil’s House Administration Committee became the de facto repository for the records gathered by the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol when Republicans dissolved that select committee at the start of the new Congress in January.

Steil and the committee requested from Capitol police the same access to the Jan. 6 surveillance footage that the select committee had, a senior congressional aide told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, as part of “efforts to identify security failures and review recommendations on how to improve Capitol security across the campus.”

When asked if he consulted Capitol police about the potential public release of Jan. 6 surveillance footage, Steil in a statement Thursday said: “I strongly believe we can maintain security while increasing openness and transparency for the American people.”

He accused the Jan. 6 select committee of selectively leaking footage and noted former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s daughter, Alexandra Pelosi, filmed footage for a documentary that included video of lawmakers’ hideaways as supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol.

“Meanwhile, a great deal of other information and materials have been withheld from the public with little explanation,” Steil said. “We believe the public has a right to transparency and we will promote that transparency in a manner that is consistent with the security of the House and the public.”

It is not clear what Carlson plans to do with the footage. But Democrats have suggested that releasing certain video could show sensitive information, like pathways lawmakers took to secure locations. Former members of the Jan. 6 select committee have noted their committee worked closely with Capitol police before airing footage in hearings.

“It’s hard to overstate the potential security risks if this material were to be used irresponsibly,” former Jan. 6 committee Chairman Bennie Thompson said in a statement.

“If Speaker McCarthy has indeed granted Tucker Carlson — a Fox host who routinely spreads misinformation and Putin’s poisonous propaganda — and his producers access to this sensitive footage,” Thompson said, “he owes the American people an explanation of why he has done so and what steps he has taken to address the significant security concerns at stake.”

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Steil defends McCarthy for giving Jan. 6 footage to Tucker Carlson