House Republicans Permit January 6 Defendants to Use Capitol Footage in Legal Defense

Pro-Trump supporters storm the US Capitol following a rally with President Donald Trump on
Samuel Corum/Getty Images
Wendell Husebø

House Republicans will permit January 6 defendants to use Capitol security footage in their legal defense, a decision that could impact ongoing prosecutions from the 2021 riot.

Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) said Tuesday that House Speaker McCarthy (R-CA) has granted the footage to defendants on a “case-by-case basis.”

Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) speaks during the Elections Subcommittee field hearing on 'Voting Rights and Election Administration in Florida' at the Broward County Governmental Center on May 06, 2019 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The subcommittee is visiting different parts of the country examining voting rights, as well as evidence of voter purging and voter suppression efforts, among other voting related issues. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA). (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

“Everyone accused of a crime in this country deserves due process, which includes access to evidence which may be used to prove their guilt or innocence,” Loudermilk told Politico. “It is our intention to make available any relevant documents or videos, on a case-by-case basis, as requested by attorneys representing defendants.”

Loudermilk, as the chair of the House Administration Committee’s oversight subpanel, will reportedly head up the dissemination of the footage. The access of the footage will also reportedly include lawmakers and members of the press.

“What gets released is obviously going to be scrutinized to make sure you’re not exposing any sensitive information that hasn’t already been exposed,” Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) said.

House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA). (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

The Republicans’ decision to allow defendants to use the footage comes as many January 6 rioters have been held in 23-hour-a-day isolation before their trials begin. One January 6 defendant called the maximum-security conditions “mental torture,” a condition that starkly contrasts Democrat policies of expelling criminals, including child rapists, from prison on parole.

The Capitol riot has been the center of much establishment media reporting. In December, Republicans and the partisan January 6 Committee released separate reports on the riot.

Liz Cheney (R-WY), vice chairwoman of the partisan January 6th Committee, sits with her fellow committee members during one of the hearings.

Liz Cheney (R-WY), vice chairwoman of the partisan January 6th Committee, sits with her fellow committee members during one of the hearings on June 16th, 2022. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

The Republicans’ report shed light on how the Capitol’s security was left vulnerable to massive crowds. The report found Democrat House leadership and law enforcement leaders in the Capitol Police were quite worried about the “optics” of any enhanced Capitol security before the protest.

Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) believes the report serves as evidence of Pelosi’s “leading role” in the Capitol’s security failures.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) talks to reporters during her weekly news conference in the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center on December 15, 2021 in Washington, DC. The House of Representatives voted on Tuesday night to recommend holding former Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate with the committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“Our report exposes the partisanship, incompetence and indifference that led to the disaster on January 6 and the leading role Speaker Pelosi and her office played in the security failure at the Capitol,” Banks told Just the News. “Unlike the sham January 6th Committee, House Republicans produced a useful report that will keep Capitol and USCP officers safe with no subpoena power and no budget.”

In the January 6 Committee’s report, Pelosi appeared to reject any responsibility for the lack of Capitol security. Pelosi stated the partisan committee “succeeded in bringing clarity” to the riot by “investigating the facts, circumstances and causes that led to this domestic terror attack on the Capitol.”

Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.

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