The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) governs what government information the public is entitled to and what it isn't entitled to. For example, your tax returns, your social security number, and your earnings history are all pieces of information maintained by taxpayer funded public agencies. But the public is not entitled to request and receive that information.Grace wrote: ↑Wed Nov 22, 2023 1:45 pmThat analogy isn’t applicable with the capitol protests. A convenience store that is robbed is privately owned by a private individual.Ken wrote: ↑Wed Nov 22, 2023 10:13 am
No, it is the opposite of the same thing.
If there are crimes happening you show the crimes, not endless tape of nothing. If someone robs a convenience store you show the 5 min period of time in which they committed the crime on camera, not the other 23:55 min period of time that day when someone wasn't robbing the store. And if there are multiple cameras, you show the one which shows the crime happening, not some footage from another camera in the back room where nothing was happening.
The Capitol is NOT a private place and not owned by private people. It is often referred to as “the people's house” and is owned by the public. It was built and paid for with public funds collected from tax payers. It is maintained by the public’s taxes. The congress and others that use the building are working for the public.
Because the activities on Jan 6 were conducted on the public’s land, in the public’s building, against public workers who are paid by the public's taxes, etc, all the surveillance for that day should be released to the public and not just a few clips. Even the cameras that took the footage are owned by the public. It is very revealing and interesting that the Jan 6, committee is so against releasing what should be public information, to the public. It is about controlling their narrative/propaganda and the only way that can be done is hide the facts and information from the very people who pay their salaries, who pay for the facility they use, who pay their cushy perks, etc.
As far as I know we still live in a free Republic, not some socialistic/communist country that wants to control the people by only releasing the information that the government wants the people to know.
There are 9 different exemptions to FOIA and they include things like trade secrets but also information collected by law enforcement (i.e. Capitol Police) and information related to the security of Federal facilities and the Capitol is a Federal facility. https://www.foia.gov/faq.html
So while Speaker Johnson might choose to release this information, the law does not actually compel him to do so. And there are legitimate reasons for them not to do so, or at a minimum, carefully review and screen the material before releasing it.
And this isn't about the 1/6 committee. They were part of the last Congress and were disbanded after the 2022 midterm elections elected a new Congress. Several of those committee members are no longer even in Congress. So this would be about the decision-making of the current Sergeant of Arms and Capitol Police who are under the authority of Speaker Johnson.