January 6 Committee Says GOP Rep. Gave Capitol Tours Day Before Riot, Contradicting Denials

Topline

The House committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot Thursday said Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) gave a tour of the building the day before the riot, strengthening accusations that legislators took groups on “reconnaissance” tours in preparation for the riot.

Key Facts

The committee has evidence that Loudermilk led a tour through areas of the Capitol complex on January 5, 2021, according to a Thursday letter signed by committee chair Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and vice chair Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.).

Witness accounts suggest that some people attempted to collect information about the layout of the Capitol in advance of the riot, Thompson and Cheney wrote.

Loudermilk strongly denied Democrats’ claims that legislators had led January 5, 2021 “reconnaissance tours,” calling the accusations unevidenced and “morally reprehensible.”

May 12, Loudermilk announced he had filed an ethics complaint against 34 Democratic representatives who requested a police investigation into alleged “suspicious” Capitol tours.

Thompson and Cheney requested Loudermilk meet with the committee “soon,” and suggested meeting Monday.

Loudermilk did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Forbes.

Key Background

Less than a week after the riot, Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) claimed she had seen unnamed members of Congress bring groups into the Capitol prior to the riot for reconnaissance. Sherrill and 33 other Democratic representatives signed a letter claiming that some of the signatories encountered tour visitors on January 5 who “appeared to be associated” with the rally the subsequent day, and urging the Capitol Police to investigate the “unusually large” groups of people who allegedly found their way into the Capitol. Later, Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) told CNN that he and Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) had seen Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) leading a “large” group on a Capitol tour in the week preceding the riot. Boebert denied she had ever given a tour of the Capitol to an “outside group,” but said she had brought a small group of family members into the Capitol on January 2 and 3.

Further Reading

“Lawmakers Led ‘Reconnaissance’ Tours Of The Capitol Ahead Of Last Week’s Riots, Democratic Congresswoman Alleges” (Forbes)