Public Citizen, a liberal activist nonprofit watchdog group, filed an ethics complaint against House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., for releasing security camera footage of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol to Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
The Washington Examiner reported that the group filed the complaint on Tuesday, accusing McCarthy of being politically motivated. Public Citizen asked the Office of Congressional Ethics to investigate McCarthy to determine if he is in violation of House rules.
According to InfluenceWatch, “Public Citizen, Inc. is a liberal 501(c)(4) lobbying and advocacy organization created by left-wing activist and former Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader.”
The left-wing group also “supports a broad liberal policy agenda focused on opposing to the free-market interests of American business owners.”
“The Speaker’s release of security footage exclusively to Tucker Carlson is pure and simple using congressional resources for partisan gamesmanship — the very type of polarizing gamesmanship that has caused such damage to the public’s perception of the integrity of Congress,” the group wrote in a letter.
Pn its website, Public Citizens said in a statement: “Today former Obama White House ethics adviser Norman Eisen and Bush White House ethics advisor Richard Painter joined Public Citizen in a complaint filed with the Office of Congressional Ethics over House Majority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s exclusive release of footage from the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol to a single news outlet. Fox News analyst Tucker Carlson released the first of the footage on his show last night.
“The complaint also notes that the exclusive release of the Jan. 6 video footage appears to have been the result of a political agreement between Rep. McCarthy, Tucker Carlson and others in McCarthy’s bid to become Speaker.”
The release of the Jan. 6 footage has outraged Democrats and supporters in the media, as it undercuts claims that the unruly protests were an organized insurrection.
“The footage does not show an insurrection or a riot in progress,” said Tucker Carlson on Fox News.
“The video record does not support the claim that January 6 was an insurrection. In fact, it demolishes that claim. And that’s exactly why the Democratic Party and its allies in the media prevented you from seeing it.”
