Rep. Bennie Thompson, who is the ranking Dem on the Homeland Security Committee, yesterday blasted Kevin McCarthy for handing over tens of thousands of hours of riot footage from Jan. 6, 2021, to Fox News host Tucker Carlson. How the hell does this happen? Via The Hill:
“It’s hard to overstate the potential security risks if this material were to be used irresponsibly,” Thompson said in a statement.
McCarthy’s office granted about 41,000 hours of footage of the Capitol riots to Carlson, Axios first reported. A Fox News spokesperson confirmed the development to The Hill on Monday.
“If Speaker McCarthy has indeed granted Tucker Carlson — a Fox host who routinely spreads misinformation and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s poisonous propaganda — and his producers access to this sensitive footage, 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,” Thompson said.
How is this even legal? Doesn't the footage belong to the U.S. government? How does McCarthy get away with handing it all over to Fox? Get a cease-and-desist order, pronto.
