WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said on Tuesday that he would provide defendants in criminal cases from the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol with access to thousands of hours of internal security footage of the melee.
McCarthy, who granted Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson exclusive access to the footage last week, also told reporters that he would eventually make what he described as more than 45,000 hours of footage available to all media outlets.
"I'll give it out to the entire country," said the California Republican, who first announced his plan to release security footage days after being elected speaker in early January.
Supporters of Republican former President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, disrupting lawmakers as they worked to certify Democratic President Joe Biden's 2020 election victory over Trump.
The former president continues to make false claims that the election was stolen from him through massive election fraud.
Prosecutors have brought criminal charges against more than 950 people following the assault. Four people died during the chaos, and five police officers died of various causes after the attack.
McCarthy told reporters that Jan. 6 defendants had been able to access some security footage before he became speaker. But he added: "If they need it now, we'd supply that."
A McCarthy spokesman said the House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight will work to schedule time for any attorney who represents a defendant and has asked for access.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, the chamber's No. 2 Republican, told reporters that lawmakers would make sure that any public releases would not include sensitive material.
"What gets released is going to obviously be scrutinized to make sure that you're not exposing any sensitive information," Scalise said.