US Refuses To Release Over 8,000 Hours Of Jan. 6 Security Footage: Court Filing

The Biden DOJ is refusing to release over 8,000 hours of US Capitol security footage from January 6, 2001 spanning noon to 8pm, leaving criminal defendants unable to use over 60% of the footage turned over to the FBI, according to a federal court filing.

In the June 1 filing, Topeka, KS resident William A. Pope told US District Judge Rudolph Contreras that the DOJ has given Jan. 6 defendants less than 6,000 hours of footage from 650 cameras.

Pope is defending himself against eight federal charges following his presence on Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, and has been attempting to obtain said footage and other evidence that could be exculpatory in his case.

Pope said that after getting access to U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) closed-circuit television video through a House GOP committee, he discovered some security cameras were missing footage from 2–6 p.m. on Jan. 6.

The system held by Congress includes as much as 462,000 hours of security video from more than 1,700 cameras from Dec. 27, 2020, through Jan. 7, 2021, he said.

The cameras are located throughout the Capitol Building interior, the Capitol Visitor Center, Senate and House office buildings, Capitol tunnels and subways, on the grounds outside, affixed to building exteriors and along various streets near the Capitol. -Epoch Times

In his filing, Pope has asked Contreras to compel the Biden DOJ to provide an inventory of USCP cameras and CCTV footage. 

“This is an issue because the government has previously withheld highly relevant CCTV cameras from discovery, only to announce later that they had suddenly discovered more cameras in their possession,” wrote Pope.

The Capitol Police, meanwhile, said via general counsel Thomas DiBiase, that the USCP has turned over “more than 14,000 hours) of CCTV footage to the FBI for the period in question.

According to Pope, “If the government does not even know what they have, the government is likely denying hundreds of January 6 defendants important exculpatory evidence,” adding “This would be like the government sending an innocent man to death row because they were too lazy to test for the DNA that would exonerate him.

“This potential for depriving citizens of their liberties without due process makes it even more crucial for this court to compel the government to inventory all Capitol Police CCTV in their possession, and to produce it in discovery,” Pope continued.

In a filing opposing Pope’s demand, Assistant US Attorney Kelly E. Moran wrote; “It is unclear to the government how disclosing more discovery to criminal defendants than the government was required by law to provide constitutes a potential Brady [exculpatory evidence] violation,” adding “The government does not have a ‘full inventory’ of ‘all Capitol Police CCTV they have possessed,’ and the defendant provides no support for his claim that the government should be compelled to create such an inventory.”