Why Is Everyone Protecting Ray Epps?

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American Greatness

More than a year into January 6 jury trials, Epps, one of the most prolific Capitol protesters, has not taken the stand.

 

 

Over the past month, speculation has swirled around why Fox News honchos ousted the nation’s most popular cable news host just hours before he was set to begin his nightly monologue. Tucker Carlson reportedly was stunned by the news, which was announced in a terse statement released by the network on April 24: “FOX News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways. We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor.”

Subsequent reports suggested any number of reasons why Carlson was yanked off the air, including the company’s settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, a separate lawsuit filed by a one-time producer for “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” political differences with the sons of Fox News founder Rupert Murdoch, and his questioning of the war in Ukraine.

But the timing of his removal—less than 24 hours after “60 Minutes” aired a puff piece on Ray Epps, the infamous January 6 instigator frequently covered by Carlson’s show—fueled rumors that Fox News wanted to silence Carlson before he could respond to several accusations made in the interview. 

Carlson is “obsessed with me,” Epps told reporter Bill Whitaker, who repeatedly used the term “conspiracy theory” to describe claims Epps’ acted as a federal agent during the Capitol protest. “He’s going to any means possible to destroy me.”

 

Now it appears Carlson was, in fact, prepared to address Epps’ interview in his April 24 monologue. Chadwick Moore, author of an upcoming biography on Carlson, revealed in a video message posted on Twitter on Monday that Carlson’s scheduled monologue that night “dealt with, among other things, investigations around January 6 and particularly Ray Epps, the only person captured on video inciting people to violence at the Capitol that day and allegedly an FBI informant who still has not been arrested or charged.”

Carlson quote-tweeted Moore’s video with a wide-eye emoji to confirm Moore’s report.

If true, Fox News executives join a long list of Ray Epps’ sympathizers both in the news media and in Congress. For example, former Representative Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who was vice chairman of the January 6 select committee, publicly condemned “conspiracy theories about the role that [Epps] was playing that day.” Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), also formerly a member of the committee, routinely covered for Epps, even insisting Epps “broke no laws,” when he clearly did.