GOP Rep. Loudermilk held tour of Capitol before attack. Why the Jan. 6 panel wants more info

WASHINGTON – Armed with new surveillance photos, the Jan. 6 committee renewed its request Wednesday for information from a House Republican about a tour of the Capitol he gave visitors the day before the insurrectionist attack.

The Jan. 6 committee’s request came a day after Republicans released a letter from U.S. Capitol Police saying it found nothing suspicious about the Jan. 5, 2021, tour led by Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga.

Some committee members appear to disagree, while Loudermilk and his allies accused the committee of playing politics.

In a letter to Loudermilk, Committee Chair Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi,  said surveillance video showed that “individuals on the tour photographed and recorded areas of the complex not typically of interest to tourists, including hallways, staircases, and security checkpoints.”

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The committee released surveillance photos and video of Loudermilk’s guests, including clips of one of the tourists who was seen outside the Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack, yelling threats to Democratic lawmakers and saying “we’re coming for you.” The committee did not specifically identify any of the people in the photos or videos.  

Members of the tour led by Representative Loudermilk took photos and videos of the tunnel leadingfrom the Rayburn House Office Building to the Capitol on January 5, 2021

The committee’s request is part of its probe into whether groups that stormed the Capitol conducted surveillance of the complex before the attack, which was designed to stop the counting of electoral votes that certified President Joe Biden’s election win.

Some lawmakers noted that the U.S. Capitol was closed to tourists at the time Loudermilk showed around his guests, due to COVID restrictions.

“These are not normal tour routes, the Capitol was closed to tours,” tweeted Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., one of two Republicans on the committee.

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Committee members are in the midst of public hearings on their investigation of the attack and then-President Donald Trump’s role in it.

The next hearing is scheduled for Thursday afternoon.

Loudermilk did not immediately respond to the committee’s letter. On Tuesday, he touted the Capitol Police statement. He denied giving “a tour of the Capitol,” and said that “a small group visiting their congressman is in no way a suspicious activity.”

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After Thompson’s letter was released, Loudermilk told CNN that “the select committee has already accused me of giving reconnaissance tours, which has been verified as false. To my knowledge, no one that visited my office on January 5 was involved in any illegal activity on January 6; so if the committee has evidence, they should release it, not just make accusations.”

In his letter to Loudermilk, Thompson noted that the committee asked Loudermilk to provide information on May 19.

“Surveillance footage shows a tour of approximately ten individuals led by you to areas in the Rayburn, Longworth, and Cannon House Office Buildings, as well as the entrances to tunnels leading to the U.S. Capitol,” Thompson wrote.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rep. Barry Loudermilk Capitol tour: Jan. 6 panel seeking more info