House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has kept his promise and released an additional 5,000 hours of Capitol Building security footage captured during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot. According to Just the News, this new video material represents almost 208 days of continuous viewing. The House Administration Oversight Subcommittee has made it available for public access.
“House Republicans again commend subcommittee Chairman Barry Loudermilk and the entire Committee on House Administration for their ongoing commitment to ensuring that there is full transparency surrounding the events of January 6,” Johnson said in a statement, the outlet reported.
On November 2023, Johnson announced his plan to make the January 6, 2021, tapes available to the American public. He released 90 hours of footage. However, there seems to be more video than what was released on Friday. The subcommittee promised to release the remaining footage online as soon as possible so that every American can access it.
Some of the new videos released on Friday were previously released, but they were blurry. They have since been reloaded to provide better clarity. The link to the footage can be found here.
“I appreciate Speaker Johnson’s continued support of our efforts and his resolute commitment to full transparency for the American people,” Loudermilk said. “Today’s decision will significantly expedite CCTV footage releases, all of which will be made available to the American public within the next few months without blurring or editing. The first batch is already available on our Rumble page.”
Meanwhile, in a ruling that could have far-reaching implications for perhaps hundreds of people arrested following the Jan. 6 protest, a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., ruled last week that at least some of them were “improperly” sentenced.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit determined that defendant and former Air Force officer Larry Brock’s sentence was flawed as it wrongly incorporated charges of “interference with the administration of justice.” Circuit Judge Millett, the author of the court’s opinion, stated that interference with Congress’ certification of the electoral votes in the 2020 presidential election does not warrant a sentence enhancement, Fox News reported.
“Brock challenges both the district court’s interpretation of Section 1512(c)(2)’s elements and the sufficiency of the evidence to support that conviction. He also challenges the district court’s application of the three-level sentencing enhancement for interfering with the ‘administration of justice,’” Millett wrote.
The appeals court affirmed Brock’s conviction but disagreed with how he was sentenced, noting: “As for Brock’s sentence, we hold that the ‘administration of justice’ enhancement does not apply to interference with the legislative process of certifying electoral votes.”
While other aspects of Larry Brock’s conviction were upheld, the higher court nevertheless ruled it would “vacate Brock’s sentence” while remanding the case back to the district court to resentence the single “interference” charge.
Other Jan. 6 defendants received longer sentences under the same enhancement, and now those cases could potentially be overturned as well.
“Larry Brock participated in the violent January 6th riot at the United States Capitol that forced the evacuation of members of Congress and their staff and prevented Congress’s certification of the 2020 presidential election until the next day. After a bench trial, the court convicted Brock of six crimes, including corruptly obstructing Congress’s certification of the electoral count under 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c)(2),” Judge Millet wrote.
“At sentencing, the district court applied a three level sentencing enhancement to Brock’s Section 1512(c)(2) conviction on the ground that Brock’s conduct resulted in ‘substantial interference with the administration of justice,’” he added.