Speaker McCarthy gave Fox's Tucker Carlson exclusive access to 41,000 hours of Jan. 6 riot tapes: report

Tucker Carlson. Fox News/YouTube.

• Kevin McCarthy gave Fox host Tucker Carlson access to a trove of Jan. 6 riot tapes, Axios reported.
• The Speaker gave Carlson exclusive access to 41,000 hours of surveillance tapes from the insurrection.
• Carlson said the footage was kept "secret" after the Jan. 6 panel publicly shared videos and transcripts.

Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy granted Tucker Carlson access to thousands of hours of surveillance tapes from the January 6 riot, according to a new report. 

McCarthy exclusively gave the Fox News host of "Tucker Carlson Tonight" 41,000 hours of tapes from the Capitol, according to an Axios report. 

Carlson, who has long called the House panel into question, told Axios that there "was never any legitimate reason for this footage to remain secret."

"If there was ever a question that's in the public's interest to know, it's what actually happened on January 6. By definition, this video will reveal it," Carlson told the outlet. "It's impossible for me to understand why any honest person would be bothered by that."

The process of sharing the tapes began in early February, Axios reported, citing communications between Carlson's show and McCarthy's office. In a comment to Insider, a Fox News spokesperson confirmed the details of the Axios report. 

The January 6 committee publicly shared videos, transcripts, and court documents from their investigation, and issued their final report in December.   

Fox News faces a $1.6 billion lawsuit from election-machine company Dominion, who said Fox executives and hosts promoted baseless claims about widespread voter fraud — claims that were fomented by former President Donald Trump and stirred the mob on January 6 to action — despite knowing they were false.  

Representatives for Speaker McCarthy did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on Monday.