We’ve enjoyed watching the reactions to Kevin McCarthy giving Tucker Carlson hundreds of hours of January 6 committee footage evidence.
When asked why the exposure and openness of the evidence were terrible, the hysterics were followed by awkward justifications. It’s just a circus show with nothing wrong.
Scott MacFarlane, CBS Washington journalist and January 6 obsessive, reports that news outlets have petitioned Congress for access to the same material Tucker saw. It’s funny timing and phrases.
Hypocrisy?
CBS News demands direct exposure to surveillance and authorities recordings from the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy gave to Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
In a Friday statement to Congress, the media organizations say McCarthy should enable other media groups to see the material Carlson and Fox News accessed.
CNN, CBS News, Axios, Politico, LA Times, ProPublica ABC, Advance, Scripps, and Gannett sent the letter.
NEW: Speaker McCarthy must either retrieve the 44,000 hours of January 6th footage he gave to Tucker Carlson or release it to the public. https://t.co/uH31Q63I5U
— Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) February 27, 2023
“Demanding” access is valuable. Why wasn’t this demand made before Tucker’s acquisition if they think access is essential?
The press was satisfied to sit back and absorb the committee’s shortened conclusions in the final report. The study did not incorporate the findings that we now know about federal participation on that date and in the days preceding the Capitol incident.
These news companies are now interested in journalism because they think Tucker’s possible disclosures might unravel numerous narratives.
The New York Times worried about Tucker’s discovery earlier this week. The outlet’s whining that Carlson would “re-litigate the riots” to “re-investigate” was amusing. Following years of January 6 criticism, the press now finds it unsightly.
“Tucker Carlson is the most dishonest, dangerous person in the media today. For the Speaker of the House to give him this January 6 footage is beyond irresponsible and dangerous," @WalshFreedom tells @yasminv. pic.twitter.com/PV9lAfdAf3
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) February 25, 2023
Here’s why this news consortium is acting: they worry Carlson will disprove.
Attorney Charles Tobin wrote there is a significant worry that a philosophical narrative of an already contentious event will gain traction in the national mind.
There could be disruptive risks to the credibility of Congress, the Capitol building Police, and the various government inquiries and indictments of January 6 wrongdoings.
Fake Concern
Now, there is worry over a skewed and unbalanced presentation of the facts from this panel with a rigged structure. There is a dramatic staging from one news department and a display that eschewed cross-examinations and challenges to evidence and testimony?!
This rapid demand suggests the newsgroups were satisfied with the committee’s judgment. They defy McCarthy’s “sunshine” commitment by acting after the tapes are released. He told the New York Times if he became House Speaker, he would release the footage.
McCarthy told reporters these tapes belonged to the American people. He believes sunshine lets everyone decide.
McCarthy’s vow weakens the other news outlets’ new posturing. The group’s posthoc legal demands are toothless. If you didn’t want to seem like a chained Yorkie yapping innocently, you should have stepped in much earlier, instead of sitting placidly pleased with what the panel coddled you.
Media critics, mainstream, and show business are experts in just a few things: excellent bourbons, cigarettes, baseball teams, and bad movies.
This article appeared in NewsHouse and has been published here with permission.
