Letters to the Editor: Kevin McCarthy’s release of Jan. 6 footage to Tucker Carlson stinks

To the editor: Aside from the blatant absurdity of granting exclusive access to only one media platform of what is unarguably a public asset from which private profit will be derived, the speaker of the House felt no obligation to immediately go on the record for having done so. Cute. (“McCarthy gives Tucker Carlson access to thousands of hours of Jan. 6 surveillance footage,” Feb. 22)

And, when releasing the referenced security footage from the Jan. 6 insurrection, how is it legal to restrict access to the same publicly funded asset from all other media, if Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) thinks the footage released to Fox News host Tucker Carlson is truly in the public’s interest? Not cute.

Please tell your readers when this newspaper files suit demanding immediate access to all of what was provided by the federal government to only Fox News.

Ted Rosenblatt, Pacific Palisades

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To the editor: For the moment, let’s ignore the odious optics of McCarthy’s blatantly partisan move of handing over Capitol security footage from Jan. 6 to Carlson.

Let’s ignore the potential risks to Capitol security. Let’s ignore Carson’s established history of peddling conspiracy theories that he himself evidently doesn’t believe.

All that aside, what possible valid reason might the speaker of the House have in providing thousands of hours of footage to one sole media personality? The fact that McCarthy’s office initially refused to comment on the arrangement speaks volumes.

Sharie Lieberg-Hartman, Oxnard