Johnson says Republicans blurring faces of insurrectionists so they can’t be 'charged by the DOJ'

When new House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that he would be "keeping [his] promise" to release all 44,000 hours of Capitol security camera footage from the Jan. 6 insurrection, it wasn't just far-right conspiracy crackpots who rejoiced at the news. Citizen sleuths also salivated over the likelihood that they'd now be able to identify rioters who attacked police officers but who remain unknown.

However, Republicans have announced they'll blur the faces of private citizens who appear on the tapes, necessitating a laborious and error-prone comb-through of every tape before it can be released. That's why only 90 hours out of 44,000 made it into Johnson's original release and why Republicans don't have a timetable for when this new boondoggle will finally be completed.