One month after the announcement by GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana that House Republicans would post nearly all 44,000 hours of Jan. 6 Capitol security video to a public website, a review conducted by CBS News reveals that less than 0.4% of the footage has been uploaded.
According to multiple interviews conducted by CBS News, the task of posting the footage is daunting and there is no firm deadline for completion.
The decision to make a comprehensive set of Jan. 6 security camera videos available to the public has already sparked controversy. While House Republicans argue that it ensures "truth and transparency," some House Democrats criticize the initiative, claiming that it is driven by politics and conspiracy theories. They also express concerns about safety vulnerabilities for Capitol Police and the Capitol complex.
CBS News has discovered that the project is facing numerous unique logistical challenges that will be difficult to overcome. The sheer volume of video, which would take five years of continuous viewing for a single person to watch in its entirety, coupled with the complex security configurations of closed-circuit surveillance footage, is hindering efforts to upload large portions of the video.
House Republicans Release Capitol Security Video
House Republicans have recently made available two major batches of video footage related to the January 6th Capitol riot. The videos can be viewed on a Rumble web page operated by House Republicans or on the House Administration Committee's government web page.
The first batch of video, which consists of approximately 90 hours of footage, was previously given to former Fox News host Tucker Carlson earlier this year. It includes hallway, overhead, and exterior camera footage.
The second wave of videos, posted over the past two weeks, includes 24-hour chunks from three main security cameras. In total, there are now approximately 162 hours of video available on the website. However, this is only a small fraction of the 44,000 hours of footage in the possession of the House.
The House Administration Committee, responsible for managing and uploading the footage, has oversight of the U.S. Capitol Police and the Capitol complex. After gaining majority control of the House, Republicans on the committee opened a Capitol Hill screening room for the public to view the security video.
In November, the committee initially posted the first batch of video on its official government website. However, they later moved the footage to the committee's Rumble page to better handle the larger files and potential web traffic.
A representative for a Republican congressman from Georgia, who is in charge of managing the footage, announced that new sets of videos will be uploaded each week. The spokesperson explained that the videos need to be converted from a proprietary CCTV format to a format that can be uploaded. However, during the conversion process, the time stamp is not retained. The spokesperson acknowledged this issue and stated that they plan to embed time stamps in the videos in the future. For now, the title of each video indicates the exact time the clips start in milliseconds.
Earlier this year, Tucker Carlson, a former Fox News host, made false claims about the Jan. 6 videos that were released by House Republican leadership. On his show, Carlson argued that the individuals shown in the videos were not insurrectionists but rather peaceful sightseers. He played short clips of the video, showing movements around the Capitol before and during the violent incidents that occurred on that day. These incidents led to the evacuation of lawmakers, injuries to over 140 police officers, and the disruption of the certification of electoral votes in the 2020 election. It's important to note that Carlson is no longer employed by Fox News.
House Republicans have faced criticism for releasing a video that some argue is an attempt to provide political cover for former President Trump. Trump is currently charged with conspiring to overturn the 2020 election and directing the mob that stormed the Capitol on January 6. Despite pleading not guilty, Trump continues to make claims about the events of that day that are based on conspiracy theories.
During a recent rally, Trump referred to the January 6th criminal defendants as "hostages." Democrats are concerned that Trump supporters will cherry-pick clips from the video to further spin conspiracy theories. Representative Jamie Raskin, who was a member of the House Jan. 6 select committee, warned that the videos could be misused to support false claims.
Raskin stated, "They can ransack these tapes for scenes of people walking down the hallway without assaulting police. I'm sure they'll find them. That doesn't mean 140 police officers weren't injured in the brutal assault."
He added, "You could show the 9/11 hijackers 45 minutes before they took over the plane and directed it into the Twin Towers, sitting munching peanuts and drinking ginger ale. But that doesn't mean that what happened didn't happen."
House Republicans have also announced their intention to blur the faces of some individuals captured by the surveillance camera footage.
"In order to protect the individuals who participated in the events of that day, we have decided to blur their faces. Our intention is to prevent any form of retaliation from non-governmental actors," stated Johnson earlier this month.
A spokesperson later clarified Johnson's statement, saying, "We will be blurring faces in the public viewing room footage to ensure the safety of private citizens. The Department of Justice already possesses the unedited footage from January 6, 2021."
The initial videos that were shared, including the ones given to Carlson, do not feature any blurred faces.
Rep. Norma Torres, a Democrat from California and the ranking member of the House Administration subcommittee, criticized the decision to publicly release the footage.
Capitol Security Footage from Jan. 6 Insurrection
"By releasing Capitol security footage from the Jan. 6 insurrection, Speaker Johnson is disregarding the concerns of the U.S. Capitol Police and prioritizing partisanship over safety," criticized Torres in an interview with CBS News. "This is not transparency; it is irresponsible and dangerous. Speaker Johnson's actions put the lives of members of Congress, staff, the press, and all visitors at risk, while also undermining the integrity of our institution."
During the ongoing court proceedings, the Justice Department has already made public significant amounts of video evidence showing the violent and chaotic events of Jan. 6. These videos include scenes of rioters attacking police officers with makeshift weapons, the mob surrounding Officer Eugene Goodman near the Senate chamber, brutal battles in a tunnel, the breaking of windows and doors, the display of a Confederate flag inside the Capitol, and injuries sustained by both police and individuals in the crowd.
Hundreds of hours of this footage have been uploaded to a cloud video web portal maintained by the Justice Department. Access to the portal is granted to those who register to view it remotely.
As of this month, over 1,200 individuals have been charged in relation to the Capitol riot, with more than 440 of them facing charges of assaulting or resisting police. Additionally, more than half of all those charged have pleaded guilty to federal charges.
