A group of House Republicans is calling on the Capitol Police to release any and all surveillance camera footage capturing the events of Jan. 6, 2021.
The group of 24 members of Congress sent a letter to the Capitol Police on July 29 urging the release of “all Capitol security video footage of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.”
The members are seeking the footage from the four members of the Capitol Police‘s governing board.
Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas is questioning why the tapes haven’t already been released to the public.
“The fact that these tapes have not been released, I think, is just a huge blot on the Department of Justice,” Gohmert said in a statement provided to the Washington Times.
“It’s just outrageous to the American justice system that they’re not being required to make the videos available.”
Gohmert said that multiple defendants facing charges stemming from the disturbance have been unable to obtain camera footage that could be used as exculpatory evidence.
They’re instead limited to using the same surveillance camera footage that prosecutors intend to use against them as evidence.
The Capitol Police said that the defendants in Jan. 6 cases already have access to the surveillance camera footage in question.
Is there more footage?
“Every January 6th defendant has access to the same footage, which is everything the USAO is releasing,” a representative for the agency said in a statement provided to the Washington Times.
“They do not just get what is relevant to them.”
The Capitol police are obligated to release surveillance camera footage pertaining to any of its operations that affect Congress to legislators.
The House Republicans behind the letter aim to use their authority over the agency to obtain footage some defendants believe they’ve been deprived of using for their own legal defense.
“As I’ve said many times, from people that did violence on Jan. 6, they need to be punished,” Gohmert said.
“But going after Jan. 6 defendants who were peaceful, who were waved in and thought there was nothing wrong with what they were doing, to have people like that locked up for a year and a half is absolutely outrageous.”
