‘A Lot More Transparency Is Coming’ on Jan. 6: House GOP

Protesters roam through the U.S. Capitol Rotunda after breaching the building on Jan. 6, 2021. SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

More details about what occurred on the day of Jan. 6, 2021, will be revealed in the days to come, according to House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.).

“In the end, transparency is the best disinfectant,” Scalise said at a March 8 press conference in Washington while discussing new security footage of the Capitol breach that aired on Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on March 6–7.

When asked by one reporter whether he agreed with Carlson’s depiction of the breach as “peaceful,” the congressman noted that the Fox News host had also criticized the protesters who had engaged in criminal activity.

As for the complaints of some that the security footage Carlson used was selectively edited, Scalise asserted that the previously available footage had been released by the House’s “partisan” Jan. 6 Committee, and that those videos had been “cherry-picked” to present one side of the story.

And while some have criticized House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) decision to grant Carlson exclusive access to the security tapes, Scalise stressed that the speaker has said he will soon make the footage publicly available.

“No matter whether the tapes are released or not, it seems like some in the press want to talk about Jan. 6 every day,” the majority leader noted. “So do a lot of Democrats. They only want to talk about certain parts of it, though. So, at the end of the day, have the transparency to get all the facts out. Let the public see not just what was a one-sided sham committee that was only focused on getting one side of the story out.”

One aspect of the breach that Scalise said had yet to be clarified was why Democrat leadership at the time had declined assistance from the National Guard prior to Jan. 6.

Additionally, Scalise said he felt Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) was owed an apology after the newly released surveillance videos had disproven some Democrats’ previous suggestions that a tour the Georgia Republican had given on Jan. 5 was somehow linked to the breach.

“I think he’s owed an apology by every Democrat who questioned him on the events prior to Jan. 6,” Scalise said. “They implied things about him that weren’t true, that those tapes revealed, and I’m waiting for those apologies to come because they owe it to him.”

In closing his Wednesday remarks, the congressman also noted that Republican leadership was focused on revealing the truth not only about Jan. 6 but also potential abuses of power by federal agencies.

“When you see some of these federal agencies of the Biden administration going after people that are either exposing truth that they don’t want out, we’re going to be looking into a lot of that. … I think a lot more transparency is coming.”