Former President Donald Trump commended Speaker Mike Johnson for making public footage of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, stating that the move took “courage and fortitude.”
Mr. Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, announced that the House Administration Committee would start releasing security camera footage of the Capitol riots, beginning with 90 hours of video in the initial batch of tapes.
“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 mentioned that over 40,000 hours of footage would be gradually released on the committee’s website over the next few months. However, not all of the video will be made available to the public.
Around 5% of the footage will be held back from public viewing due to potential sensitive security information related to the building architecture, as stated by Mr. Johnson.
Conservative lawmakers in the House and Senate have also praised Mr. Johnson for releasing the footage, contending that the tapes depict a different account than the one presented by the now-defunct House January 6 Committee.
Rep. Troy Nehls, a Texas Republican, and Sen. Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, have called for scrutiny of current and former panel members, such as former Reps. Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney, following the footage’s release.
“The J6 committee was a sham. I knew it then. Everyone knows it now,” Mr. Nehls said on X. “Let’s investigate the investigators.”
In response, Mr. Kinzinger urged for more specific details to support the claims as he questioned, “Oh ya? What did ya find? Please elaborate with details because you sound very sure.”
President Trump’s commendation of the release coincides with a Colorado judge’s decision allowing him to appear on the state’s ballot, but also acknowledging that the former president “engaged in insurrection” by inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
It also follows a ruling from federal Judge Tanya Chutkan, overseeing a 2020 election interference case against Mr. Trump, who dismissed a motion seeking to remove any mention of the Jan. 6 attacks from the indictment brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith.
