McCarthy holdout praises House Speaker for giving Tucker Carlson Jan. 6 tapes

The lone freshman Republican lawmaker to oppose House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's leadership of the lower chamber celebrated on Thursday the California Republican's decision to hand over footage of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot to Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson.

Appearing on the "John Solomon Reports" podcast, Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., told host John Solomon that, while he remained vigilant against any efforts by leadership to revert to their old ways, he had found some positives in McCarthy's tenure.

"I still see some backsliding and just a return in ways towards business as usual, but we'll continue to monitor that and work on that," he said. "I do want to give Kevin McCarthy, attaboy and props for releasing the January 6 tapes to Carlson."

"I think that was a massive, massive move for the American people," Crane continued. "I keep talking about how the trust has really been diminished in this country, with organizations and institutions that many of us held in such high esteem for so long."

"And I think that was a step in the right direction. I do think it will result in what it is already resulting in and more distrust, but at least they're seeing the Speaker of the House execute transparency, and giving the American people the other side of that story," he said.

McCarthy provided Carlson with access to 41,000 hours of footage from the incident, some of which the Fox News host aired this week, to the consternation of establishment politicians and legacy media outlets that maligned him as misrepresenting the incident's chaotic nature.

Included in that footage was a clip Carlson aired showing Jacob Chansley, aka the QAnon Shaman, being peacefully escorted by Capitol Police through the halls of the building.

"The tapes show the Capitol police never stopped Jacob Chansley. They helped him. They acted as his tour guides," Carlson said during the segment.

Many defendants facing charges over alleged actions stemming from the disturbance have sought delays to their trials so as to access and review the additional surveillance footage, which may contain exculpatory evidence in their cases.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.