Trump praises Mike Johnson for releasing J6 tapes, says footage will reveal ‘what really happened’

Former President Donald Trump lauded Speaker Mike Johnson for rolling out footage captured during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, saying the move took “courage and fortitude.” 

Mr. Johnson, Louisiana Republican, announced on Friday that the House Administration Committee would begin rolling out security camera footage of the riots on Capitol Hill, starting with 90 hours of video in the first burst of tape. 

“Congratulations to Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson for having the Courage and Fortitude to release all of the J6 Tapes, which will explicitly reveal what really happened on January 6th,” Mr. Trump said on Truth Social. 

Mr. Johnson said that more than 40,000 hours of footage would be released over the course of several months on the committee’s website. Not all of the video will be released, however. 

About 5% of the footage will be withheld from public viewing because it could “involve sensitive security information related to the building architecture,” Mr. Johnson said. 

Conservative lawmakers in the House and Senate have also praised Mr. Johnson for releasing the footage, and say that the tapes reveal a much different picture than the one painted by the now-defunct House January 6 Committee. 

Rep. Troy Nehls, Texas Republican, and Sen. Mike Lee, Utah Republican, have called for lawmakers past and present on the panel, like former Reps. Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney, to be investigated following the release of the footage.  

“The J6 committee was a sham. I knew it then. Everyone knows it now,” Mr. Nehls said on X. “Let’s investigate the investigators.”

“Oh ya?  What did ya find? Please elaborate with details because you sound very sure,” Mr. Kinzinger said in response.

Mr. Trump’s celebration of the move comes on the heels of a Colorado judge’s ruling that he may appear on the ballot in the state, but in doing so found that the former president “engaged in insurrection” by inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. 

It also comes as federal Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing the 2020 election interference case against Mr. Trump, struck down a motion that would strike any mention of the Jan. 6 attacks from the indictment against the ex-president brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith.