The Capitol police chief rejected the Jan. 6 committee’s allegations that Republican Georgia Rep. Barry Loudermilk gave a tour inside the U.S. Capitol the day before the January 6, 2021, riot.
The Capitol Police Board asked the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) to review footage released by the Jan. 6 committee from Jan. 5, 2021, which alleged that Loudermilk led a tour to a group of over a dozen of his constituents into the Capitol building, the letter said.
Chief of Police J. Thomas Manger confirmed to Committee of House Administration ranking member Rodney Davis in the Wednesday letter that there is no evidence Loudermilk entered the Capitol with the group of constituents that day.
“There is no evidence that Representative Loudermilk entered the U.S. Capitol with this group on January 5, 2021,” the letter read. “We train our officers on being alert for people conducting surveillance or reconnaissance, and we do not consider any of the activities we observed as suspicious.”
and a small group visiting their congressman is in no way a suspicious activity. Now the Capitol Police have confirmed this fact.
— Rep. Barry Loudermilk (@RepLoudermilk) June 14, 2022
The Jan. 6 committee released surveillance footage of Loudermilk meeting with a group of his constituents inside areas of the House Office Buildings, who allegedly photographed hallways, staircases and security checkpoints. The committee said one individual who attended the “Stop the Steal” rally attended the tour with the Georgia representative.
Surveillance footage shows a tour led by Loudermilk to areas in the House Office Buildings, as well as the entrances to Capitol tunnels.
Individuals on the tour photographed/recorded areas not typically of interest to tourists: hallways, staircases and security checkpoints. pic.twitter.com/Rjhf2BTdbc
— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) June 15, 2022
The group, composed of 15 people, entered buildings consisting of lawmakers’ offices, first entering the Rayburn House Office Building before moving to the Cannon House Office Building, which has a series of exhibits, according to the letter. After spending roughly five minutes at the exhibit in the Cannon building, Loudermilk departed from the group and exited the Longworth South Capitol Street Door alone, the letter said. (RELATED: Democrats Straight Up Admit The J6 Hearings Are Political Theater)
“At no time did the group appear in any tunnels that would have led them to the U.S. Capitol,” the letter said. “In addition, the tunnels leading to the U.S. Capitol were posted with USCP officers and admittance to the U.S. Capitol without a Member of Congress was not permitted on January 5, 2021.”
Democratic Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, the House Select Committee chairman, sent a letter to Loudermilk on Wednesday urging him to meet with the committee to give answers to the committee on the footage. In response, Loudermilk said Thompson’s request is “undermining the Capitol Police.”
“The Capitol Police already put this false accusation to bed, yet the Committee is undermining the Capitol Police and doubling down on their smear campaign, releasing so-called evidence of a tour of the House Office Buildings, which I have already publicly addressed,” Loudermilk said on Twitter.
[1/5] The Capitol Police already put this false accusation to bed, yet the Committee is undermining the Capitol Police and doubling down on their smear campaign, releasing so-called evidence of a tour of the House Office Buildings, which I have already publicly addressed. https://t.co/yqIpQ6jSG9
— Rep. Barry Loudermilk (@RepLoudermilk) June 15, 2022
The committee first contacted Loudermilk last month about the footage in a May 19 letter, CNN reported. The members indicated that evidence contradicted Republicans’ previous claims that there were no tours or large groups of people with MAGA hats on. Days following the riot, Democrats accused Republicans of giving tours to those who later breached the building.
He told a local Georgia radio station in January 2021 that nearly a dozen of his constituents traveled to Washington to attend the rally the next day, assuring that they departed from the crowd once violence broke out, CNN reported.