Newsbreak: Major Media Organizations Sue FBI and Justice Department for Access to Capitol Hill Surveillance Tapes Denied to All but Fox News

A group of major media organizations, led by CNN and The New York Times, have filed a lawsuit against the FBI and the US Attorney’s Offices in the Justice Department to gain access to the Capitol Hill surveillance tapes of January 6^th, which have only been provided to Fox News by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Media organizations, including CNN and The New York Times, sue FBI and US Attorney’s Offices for access to Capitol Hill surveillance tapes of January 6th, currently only provided to Fox News.

Media Coalition Seeks Access to Capitol Hill Surveillance Tapes

A coalition of media outlets, including CBS News, Politico, and ProPublica, is taking legal action against the FBI and US Attorney’s Offices in the Justice Department to access the Capitol Hill surveillance tapes of January 6.

The tapes, which comprise 44,000 hours of footage, according to CNN, have only been given to Fox News by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who has not provided access to any other press outlets. The coalition argues that the tapes should be made available to the public under the federal public records law since they have been disclosed to Fox News.

The press coalition alleges that the Justice Department has copies of the tapes and should provide access to other members of the public who request them. However, the FBI has claimed that it was “unable to identify” the requested records. Prior to the disclosure to Fox News, the US Capitol Police attempted to keep some CCTV footage confidential. McCarthy’s office has stated that it is still exploring options to make the footage more widely available, but has not provided a timeline for doing so.

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The Media Coalition Argues Denial of Access Is a Departure from Transparency

The media coalition argues that the denial of access to the Capitol surveillance videos is a significant departure from the transparency they have experienced in the past two years. The coalition has successfully obtained access to thousands of videos of the Capitol riot that have been used as evidence in over a hundred cases.

The coalition argues that, since the tapes have been provided to Fox News, other press outlets should also have access to the footage. The coalition is not seeking legal action against the House or the speaker directly but rather seeking access to the tapes through the federal public records law.

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