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Republican McCarthy
Photo: Jacquelyn Martin/AP
It has now been more than two years since the storming of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Five people were killed in direct connection with the riots when a crowd incited by former Republican President Donald Trump burst into the seat of Congress.
Now the incident is once again causing serious upset between the Democrats and Republicans in the House of Representatives.
As first reported by the New York Times, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has given Fox News host Tucker Carlson exclusive access to around 40,000 hours of security footage surrounding the storming of the Capitol.
Of all people, Tucker Carlson
A hard-line conservative and Trump supporter, Carlson has previously described the events of January 6, 2021 as a “false flag operation” without providing any supporting evidence, suggesting a conspiracy.
According to the New York Times, McCarthy justified passing on the material to Carlson by saying that he had promised to publish it.
"I was questioned by the press about these recordings and I said they belong to the American public."
In the case of "Sunshine", everyone should form their own opinion, according to the Republican.
After Carlson has trawled through the material, it should therefore be made available to other media.
However, the fact that one of the most prominent Trump supporters of all people now has exclusive access to the sensitive material causes incomprehension among the Democrats.
The release of the recordings poses a "serious security risk" to members of Congress and everyone who works in the Capitol, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote in a letter.
With the controversial step, McCarthy is apparently also trying to secure further support from hardliners within his party.
At the beginning of January, after a historic election chaos, McCarthy was only elected the new Speaker of the House of Representatives in the 15th ballot.
This was made possible after far-reaching concessions to a small group of MPs in his party who had previously refused to support McCarthy.
Since the storming of the Capitol, numerous US media have also been trying to gain access to the complete material through legal means.
According to CNN, a court in Washington, DC, had already ruled that there was a fundamental public interest in the release of the recordings.
However, this did not mean automatic publication.
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