Jamie Raskin warns McCarthy that releasing Jan. 6 videos might be hard on Republican egos

WASHINGTON — Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is threatening to release all of the videos associated with the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on Congress and the attempt to overthrow the 2020 election. Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) promised to do the same during the 2022 election season but has been mum ever since.

There were a number of people who testified quietly and were not named publicly until the final report was released.

Raw Story asked Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), who served on the committee, about the release of all of the information and he agreed that it's one of the new powers that McCarthy has.

"You know I think it would be — look, the presentation we made was gripping to the country," he said. "I think there are equally fascinating details that would emerge that way as Senator [Josh] Hawley (R-MO) found out."

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The reference harkens back to a video shown briefly by the Jan. 6 committee of Sen. Hawley pretending to raise a fist in solidarity with the Jan. 6 attackers, but once they breached the Capitol, Hawley was filmed running across the building by security cameras.

The video resulted in mockery of Hawley, who has spent the past several months talking about masculinity and the need for young men to embrace their manliness by rejecting adult videos and video games. His book Manhood: The Masculine Virtues America Needs is expected to be released in May. Given his focus on masculinity, his sprinting away in fear has turned into a library of meme mockery and the hashtag #HawlinAss.

"Let's just say there are a hundred different reasons something may not have been made public yet and it would all become public," Raskin said. "And those who are proud of what they did in that period will be able to remain proud and those who have something to be embarrassed about will presumably be nervous about the release of everything."

A Punchbowl News comment cited Raskin earlier saying that he is moving to ensure he can wear headgear on the House floor while he gets treatment for his cancer diagnosis. Raskin was seen wearing a bandana on Tuesday while on Capitol Hill. He argued to the site that if they didn't let him wear it he'd complain about the toupees of the other members violating the no head adornments rule. Punchbowl asked McCarthy about it and said he'd not heard anything about the request.

Raskin told Raw Story he was kidding around with that comment.

He finished his second chemotherapy treatment, he said and his doctors are optimistic he can beat it, he said.