GOP senator says House Jan. 6 panel should be probed after release of tapes

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) called for an investigation of the House Jan. 6 Committee on Saturday after security footage from inside the Capitol was released, claiming that the committee selectively ignored evidence.

“Why didn’t Liz Cheney and [Adam Kinzinger] ever refer to any of these tapes?” Lee questioned on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, referring to video showing police assisting rioters inside the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Former Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) were the only Republican members on the committee.

“Maybe they never looked for them. Maybe they never even questioned their own narrative,” he continued. “Maybe they were just too busy selectively leaking the text messages of Republicans they wanted to defeat.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Friday began releasing 40,000 hours of security camera footage from the Capitol riots.

“This decision will provide millions of Americans, criminal defendants, public interest organizations, and the media an ability to see for themselves what happened that day, rather than having to rely upon the interpretation of a small group of government officials,” Johnson said.

More than 1,100 people have been charged with crimes related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, and more than 400 have been charged for assaulting police officers, according to the Justice Department. Rioters caused an estimated $1.5 million in damage to the Capitol building, the Architect of the Capitol said.