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Fox News host Sean Hannity attacked the January 6 Committee during one of his latest shows, but failed to mention they have asked for his cooperation in their investigation.
Hannity said the January 6 Committee was created to draw attention away from what he described as President Joe Biden's "failures."
This comes after the January 6 Committee made the letter it sent to Hannity on January 4 public. The letter called for cooperation from Hannity and said it had information indicating he had advanced knowledge of Donald Trump's January 6 plans.
Hannity spoke with former governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee on the latest episode of Hannity.
The pair condemned the violence seen on January 6 but also condemned the Black Lives Matter demonstrations of last summer.
Hannity said: "I can't name a single thing, maybe you can, that Joe Biden can point to and identify as successful.
"So we had around 574 riots in the summer of 2020, dozens of Americans died, billions in property damage, arson and looting, thousands of cops injured, many seriously, where is that committee?
"Because they only seem to care about the one riot they can politicize.
"I condemned on January 6, I condemn tonight any rioting any place anywhere.
"Why won't they investigate those riots?"
Huckabee dismissed the idea that January 6 was an insurrection.
He replied: "They won't investigate because it doesn't fit their narrative Sean.
"They want to make it that what happened on January 6 a year ago was an insurrection, it wasn't.
"If it even was an attempted one it was the most boneheaded in the world, trying to take down a nuclear power with flag poles. Just think about the absurdity of that.
"I'm with you, I condemned that on the day it happened, I said it was the dumbest thing that people could have done.
"Those that broke into the Capitol and insulted or assaulted any police officer should have to pay, that is criminal activity.
"But I was also were consistent, as you were, and others were, in saying that what happened in the summer, those were not peaceful protests.
"Those were violent outrageous attacks on the very democracy the Democrats pretend they want to protect."
Hannity closed the interview by saying the Committee is focussing on that "so they don't have to focus on Joe Biden's failures."
Committee Chair Bennie Thompson and Vice-Chair Liz Cheney said Hannity also expressed concern for the storming of the Capitol and attempted to advise the then-President Donald Trump in the now-public letter.
The letter added: "You also had relevant communications while the riot was underway, and in the days thereafter. These communications make you a fact witness in our investigation."
It also highlighted text messages showing Hannity was concerned with Trump's January 6 plan.
The letter went on to say: "The Select Committee is in possession of dozens of text messages you sent to and received from former White House Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows and others related to the 2020 election and President Trump's efforts to contest the outcome of the vote."
A text from Hannity to Meadows on December 31, 2020, read: "We can't lose the entire WH counsels office. I do NOT see January 6 happening the way he is being told. After the 6th he should announce will lead the nationwide effort to reform voting integrity. Go to FL and watch Joe mess up daily. Stay engaged. When he speaks people will listen."
The letter addressed the concerns surrounding this text and continued: "Among many other things, this text suggests that you had knowledge of concerns by President Trump's White House Counsel's Office regarding the legality of the former President's plans for January 6th. These facts are directly relevant to our inquiry."
Fox News spoke to Newsweek and highlighted Jay Sekulow's, Hannity's attorney, latest comments regarding the January 6 Committee letter.
Sekulow said: "We are evaluating the letter from the committee. We remain very concerned about the constitutional implications especially as it relates to the First Amendment. We will respond as appropriate."
Fox News also added that Hannity condemned the insurrection on his show the day it happened.
About the writer
Gerrard Kaonga is a Newsweek U.S. News Reporter and is based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on U.S. ... Read more