GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana moved this week to release extensive footage from the Capitol on January 6, 2021, allowing many new observers the chance to access vantage points originating with Capitol security cameras. And Tim Heaphy, a lawyer and former federal prosecutor who helped lead the January 6 investigation in the House, says Johnson’s decision could set the stage for future rioters.
“It’s dangerous,” Heaphy said of Johnson’s choice, adding in the MSNBC discussion: “It’s relevant because it demonstrates some events in and around the Capitol. There are security cameras posted all over the complex. But the specific location of those cameras is closely held, law enforcement, sensitive information, and if they’re all disclosed, and a map can essentially be re-created as to where they are, that will make it easier for future rioters who are intent on disrupting another joint session of Congress or official proceeding to circumvent those cameras.”
The framework that originally produced the Capitol riot in the beginning of 2021 remains roughly in place, with ex-President Donald Trump and others in his political corner still promoting conspiracy theories about the last presidential election — and U.S. electoral processes in general. Concurrently, Trump and other leading Republicans effectively provide a place for political violence, refusing to systematically and consistently condemn it. Trump instead has repeatedly talked up the possibility of pardoning January 6 participants if he gets back in office, something federal prosecutors have indicated they intend to use against Trump at his trial on charges of conspiring to undercut the most recent presidential election.
That trial is on track for March of next year — meaning it’s feasible that Trump could end up right in the middle of the presidential primary season criminally convicted of charges alleging, among other elements, a conspiracy threatening the expression of everyday Americans’ right to vote. Watch Heaphy’s comments below, spotlighted earlier by Raw Story:
