CLAIM: Security camera footage from Jan. 6, 2021, shows a federal agent disguised as a supporter of then-President Donald Trump during the attack on the U.S. Capitol.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The footage shows Kevin James Lyons, a Chicago man who was sentenced in July to more than four years in federal prison for his role in the attack. Multiple images of Lyons at the Capitol, dressed as he is in the footage, appear in court documents.
THE FACTS: After House Speaker Mike Johnson on Friday began releasing thousands of hours of footage from the Capitol insurrection, social media users — including members of Congress — seized on a clip they claimed proved that undercover federal agents participated in the riot.
No, it doesn’t.
Republicans are releasing it so they can cherry pick specific clips from it and lie to their gullible constituents about what is happening to try to spin a new false narrative about it, which is exactly what they’ve done here.
It’s shameful that people elect these charlatans.