Future of Carlson’s January 6th Footage Unclear
After Tucker Carlson's departure from Fox News, there is a growing inquiry about the fate of the January 6th footage that was provided to him by the House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Tucker Carlson Ousted from Fox News
Fox News has announced the departure of prime-time host Tucker Carlson, who had become a prominent figure in GOP politics through his show "Tucker Carlson Tonight." Carlson had become known for his controversial opinions and theories on a range of topics, including Russia and the January 6th insurrection. The network did not provide any explanation for the sudden move, simply stating that they and Carlson had "agreed to part ways," and the last episode of his show aired on Friday.
Dominion Voting Lawsuit
The announcement of Carlson's departure comes amid legal trouble for Fox News, which recently settled a lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems for over $787 million over false claims aired on the network following the 2020 presidential election. Carlson was expected to be called to testify in the case, which has cast a shadow over the network.
However, Fox’s legal troubles are long from over. Fox continues to be pursued by other lawsuits such as Smartmatic’s defamation suit against the network. The voting machine company is suing for $2.7 billion, much more than Dominion’s suit. Fox recently agreed to hand over thousands of documents to the company as the suit continues.
What About the January 6th Tapes?
Carlson’s departure brings up questions regarding the status of the January 6th footage he possesses. Earlier this year, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy gave Fox and Tucker Carlson exclusive access to 41,000 hours of internal security tapes from the January 6th insurrection, which Carlson used to make false claims that the riot was "mostly peaceful chaos" and that "the footage does not show an insurrection or riot in progress."
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell criticized Fox News for promoting "offensive and misleading conclusions" about the January 6th Capitol riot in a way that is "completely at variance" with the views of US Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger. Manger released a letter to the platform criticizing Carlson for selecting only certain parts of footage to air that follow his own narrative and neglected to include important context for the attack.
Now that Carlson has been ousted from Fox, what will happen to the January 6th tapes? Will Fox continue to have exclusive access, or do the tapes go with Carlson into his next endeavors?
