New Rumble Channel Established For Release Of Jan. 6 Security Video By Congress
Authored by Joseph M. Hanneman via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
The GOP-controlled Committee on House Administration’s Subcommittee on Oversight has established a Rumble channel and released the second batch of security video from Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol.
The first few videos were posted to the Rumble channel on Dec. 5. By the next day, the collection grew to 135 clips—each about 10 minutes long. The channel had nearly 700 followers on Dec. 7.
The committee released the first batch of 90 CCTV clips on Nov. 17 on its House of Representatives website. The two websites now contain nearly 40 hours of the more than 40,000 hours of video from Jan. 6 held by Capitol Police.
"As promised, we're releasing more U.S. Capitol Police CCTV video footage from January 6th to ensure full transparency and accountability," said U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight. "Every American may access this and future footage on our new Rumble video page."
The new batch of videos all come from Camera 0908, housed high on the west dome of the Capitol. The aerial footage starts just after midnight and ends about 11:55 p.m. on Jan. 6.
The video includes the flow of protesters from the Ellipse during and after former President Donald Trump’s speech, the breach of the first police line, and the violence on several levels of the west front of the Capitol.
Capitol Police have a network of more than 1,700 security cameras inside the Capitol Building and across Capitol grounds. The agency has consistently opposed (pdf) public release of the CCTV footage.
When he announced the release of up to 44,000 hours of Jan. 6 video, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) pledged to regularly update the website with “thousands of hours of footage.”
“To restore America’s trust and faith in their government, we must have transparency,” Mr. Johnson posted on X. “This is another step towards keeping the promises I made when I was elected to be your speaker.”
Enthusiasm about the video rollout was tempered by the announcement that the subcommittee would blur any identifiable faces.
"As you know, we have to blur some of the faces of persons who participated in the events of that day because we don't want them to be retaliated against and to be charged by the DOJ,” Mr. Johnson said during a press conference on Dec. 5.
That decision drew fire from both sides of the aisle and media across the political spectrum.
Former Rep. Lynn Cheney (R-Wyo.), onetime ranking member of the now-defunct Jan. 6 Select Committee, blasted the idea of blurring the video.
“I think that we’re experiencing a situation where Speaker Johnson is somehow attempting to suggest that there is something in these tapes that would change the facts of what happened,” Ms. Cheney told CNN on Dec. 5.
Defendants in Jan. 6 criminal cases have criticized both the rollout of video and the blurring of faces.
“Johnson is flat-out lying about concerns people might be charged if the footage isn't blurred,” defendant Will Pope, who writes as Free State Will on X, said on Dec. 5. “Congress already gave all the un-blurred video to the DOJ! Motion to vacate this Pinocchio.”
Conservative social media influencer “Catturd” agreed in a post to his 2.1 million followers on X.
“This is 100% to blur out all the feds,” wrote Catturd, whose real name is Phillip Buchanan. “Like the FBI doesn’t have copies of these. What a ridiculous lie.”
A senior congressional aide defended the blurring in a statement to the Epoch Times.
"Unfortunately, there are groups whose sole purpose is to ruin the lives of anyone who was at the Capitol on January 6, whether they have been charged with a crime or not," the aide said. "To protect innocent individuals from groups like this, it makes sense to blur small portions of the footage where faces are identifiable as best as possible before posting footage online. And any American can set up an appointment to view the unedited, unaltered footage at the Subcommittee offices.”
The Times-Picayune newspaper of New Orleans published an editorial cartoon by Pulitzer Prize-winning Walt Handelsman rapping its home-state representative.
The three-panel cartoon, also posted on X, shows Mr. Johnson at a dais speaking about the facts and truth of Jan. 6. In the final frame, Mr. Johnson says he wants to be "crystal clear," while his image is badly blurred.
