Democrat Lofgren: Airing Unseen Jan. 6 Video May 'Pave the Way for Another Effort to Overthrow the Constitution'

(CNSNews.com) – What happened at the (unprepared, poorly secured) U.S. Capitol on January 6 was a riot; it was an insurrection; it was violent, it was murderous, it was the worst political uprising since the Civil War, to hear Democrats and the January 6th committee tell it.

Certainly, that may describe some of what happened on January 6, but apparently, not all of it.

Now that Fox News’s Tucker Carlson has aired previously unseen video depicting a more peaceful side of the January 6th protest — Capitol police actually escorting demonstrators — Democrats (and some Republicans) are outraged, screaming “liar, liar” at Carlson and warning that the new footage may prompt another attempted “overthrow” of government.

“We were all there,” Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), a member of the January 6 committee told MSNBC on Tuesday night.

“We were all there. We were all evacuated. We saw the mob. We know what happened. And to be silent in the face of lies is not responsible.

“So, you know, I don’t know what the motive is for Mr. Carlson. Obviously, it’s financial. The more viewers he has and we’re all talking about it now aren’t we. The more viewers he has, the more money Fox makes, and he likes that.

“But Is there another plan to kind of pave the way for another effort to overthrow the Constitution? I don’t know. But it sure — it kind of looks like that, doesn’t it?”

Lofgren said she was “glad to see” that some Republicans (Senators Mitch McConnell, Tom Tillis, Mitt Romney, to name a few) join Democrats in rebuffing Tucker Carlson for airing the video; and blasting House Speaker Kevin McCarthy for giving Carlson the video in the first place.

“It’s just garbage to try and say that there wasn’t a riot, that people weren’t harmed, it was somehow some tourist visit. They must think their viewers are stupid, really. How disrespectful of their viewers,” the congresswoman said.

Lofgren also suggested that Carlson and McCarthy have put Capitol security at risk:

“You know, we were very cautious in the committee to work with the Capitol Police. And we didn’t air anything that they hadn’t cleared. And I happen to know, that that was not the case with Mr. Carlson’s video.

“They gave (police) an outline, but they did not clear everything that was taken. So, that’s problematic.

“Yes, it’s the public’s security, but it’s security for a reason, to keep bad guys from breaking in and overturning the government. And we’re focusing on January 6 and on the MAGA mob, but I mean, ISIS? You know, there’s a lot of bad guys in the world that would like to know how to get in and how to do harm, so I don’t think it was responsible for the speaker to do this.

“And also, it’s not responsible, it really is a violation of the First Amendment, to pick — if you’re going to release something, you can’t just pick a favorite. You have to release it to everyone, which I would not be comfortable with for the security reasons that I mentioned.”

(McCarthy so far has released the unseen video footage only to Fox News, but to call that a First Amendment violation seems like a stretch.)

On Tuesday night, Carlson addressed the outrage directed at him, most prominently by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who condemned Carlson for “siding with the enemies of Democracy.”

“What you’re seeing is hysteria, the overstatement, the crazed hyperbole, the red-in-the-face anger. What is that?” Carlson asked.

“It’s not outrage, of course, it’s fear — it’s panic. Those videos, which we did not retouch — which we brought to you after running every one by the Capitol Police to make certain we didn’t imperil anybody…those videos touch a nerve because they’re a threat to the lies Chuck Schumer has been telling for the last 26 months, and not just Chuck Schumer.”

Carlson also mentioned the January 6 committee:

“The media and politicians — the people in charge — have talked about January 6th every day since it happened for 26 months. And so at some point, the evidence should be presented to the public,” he said.

“In free countries, governments do not lie about protests as a pretext to gain more power for themselves. They don’t selectively edit videos for propaganda services and then lie about them in fake hearings and show trials, but that’s exactly what happened. And every member of Congress should ask why that happened,” Carlson said.

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