Former President Donald Trump commended Speaker Mike Johnson for unveiling footage of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, hailing the move as a display of “courage and fortitude.”
Mr. Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, announced on Friday that the House Administration Committee would start releasing security camera footage of the riots on Capitol Hill, beginning with 90 hours of video in the first release.
“Congratulations to Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson for having the Courage and Fortitude to release all of the J6 Tapes, which will explicitly reveal what really happened on January 6th,” Mr. Trump said on Truth Social.
Mr. Johnson stated that more than 40,000 hours of footage will be made public over several months on the committee’s website. However, not all of the video will be released.
About 5% of the footage will be withheld from public viewing due to potential sensitive security information related to the building architecture, as per Mr. Johnson.
Conservative lawmakers in the House and Senate have also lauded Mr. Johnson for the release of the footage, asserting that the tapes present a significantly different picture than the one depicted by the now-defunct House January 6 Committee.
Rep. Troy Nehls, a Texas Republican, and Sen. Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, have called for an investigation into current and former panel members, such as former Reps. Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney, following the unveiling of the footage.
“The J6 committee was a sham. I knew it then. Everyone knows it now,” Mr. Nehls stated. “Let’s investigate the investigators.”
“Oh ya? What did ya find? Please elaborate with details because you sound very sure,” Mr. Kinzinger replied.
Mr. Trump’s commendation of the release comes amidst a Colorado judge allowing his appearance on the state’s ballot, but also noting that the former president “engaged in insurrection” by instigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Furthermore, it coincides with a federal judge’s ruling against striking any mention of the Jan. 6 attacks from the indictment against Mr. Trump in the 2020 election interference case brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith.
