House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is fighting in court to try to keep videos and emails related to the January 6 Capitol protests hidden from the public, according to the conservative group Judicial Watch.
What is Pelosi trying to hide?
Background
Judicial Watch, since last January, has been attempting to get access to congressional records related to the events that occurred at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
The group, for example, is asking for video footage from within the Capitol.
It is also asking for email communications from January 1 to 10 that took place between several law enforcement agencies, including the Capitol Police Board, the FBI, the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Department of Homeland Security; and for email communications that took place from January 1 to 10 between the U.S. Capitol Police Executive Team and the Capitol Police Board.
Pelosi has refused to comply with the request. And so, Judicial Watch brought a lawsuit seeking to gain access to this information through the common law right of access to public records.
Judicial Watch couldn’t file the more standard Freedom of Information Act lawsuit because Congress has exempted itself from it.
The latest
According to Judicial Watch, Pelosi’s Congress is continuing to fight to prevent the release of the requested records.
The group reports:
Through its police department, Congress argues that the videos and emails are not public records, there is no public interest in their release, and that “sovereign immunity” prevents citizens from suing for their release.
Tom Fitton, the group’s president, put out a statement, saying, “the Pelosi Congress (and its police department) is telling a federal court it is immune from all transparency under law and is trying to hide every second of its January 6 videos and countless emails.”
“The hypocrisy is rich,” Fitton added, “as this is the same Congress that is trying to jail witnesses who, citing privileges, object to providing documents to the Pelosi Trump January 6 committee.”
Republicans have long argued that the Democrat-led Congress and D.C. law enforcement agencies may bear some of the responsibility for what happened last January. It certainly doesn’t look good when you have the accused desperately trying to keep potential evidence from being made public.
