The House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection sent a letter Thursday to a House Republican in an effort to learn more about a tour he led of the building the day before the deadly attack.

What You Need To Know

  • The House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot sent a letter to House Republican Rep. Barry Loudermilk seeking to learn more about a tour he led of the Capitol building the day before the attack

  • The voluntary request to Loudermilk comes a week after the committee, comprised of seven Democrats and two Republicans, subpoenaed five of their Republican colleagues, including Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy

  • In the aftermath of the deadly insurrection, several House Democrats accused Republicans of leading tours through the Capitol ahead of Jan. 6

  • Loudermilk filed an ethics complaint last year against the Democratic lawmakers, accusing them of making baseless accusations about the alleged tours

Rep. Barry Loudermilk of Georgia is the latest GOP lawmaker to be asked to cooperate with the House select committee probing the violence that took place on Jan. 6, 2021.

“Based on our review of evidence in the Select Committee’s possession, we believe you have information regarding a tour you led through parts of the Capitol complex on January 5, 2021,“ Reps Bennie Thompson and Liz Cheney, the chairman and vice-chairwoman of the committee, said in a letter Thursday.

 

“The foregoing information raises questions to which the Select Committee must seek answers. Public reporting and witness accounts indicate some individuals and groups engaged in efforts to gather information about the layout of the U.S. Capitol, as well as the House and Senate office buildings, in advance of January 6, 2021,” they wrote.

In the aftermath of the deadly insurrection, several House Democrats accused Republicans of leading tours through the Capitol ahead of Jan. 6.

New Jersey Rep. Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat, said in a Facebook Live days after the attack that she saw "members of Congress who had groups coming through the Capitol that I saw on Jan. 5 for reconnaissance for the next day." Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot, did not go into further details.

"Many of the Members who signed this letter, including those of us who have served in the military and are trained to recognize suspicious activity, as well as various members of our staff, witnessed an extremely high number of outside groups in the complex on Tuesday, January 5," nearly three dozen lawmakers, including Rep. Sherrill, wrote in a letter to the acting sergeants at arms of the House and Senate and the acting head of the Capitol Police. "This is unusual for several reasons, including the fact that access to the Capitol Complex has been restricted since public tours ended in March of last year due to the pandemic."

Loudermilk filed an ethics complaint last year against the Democratic lawmakers, accusing them of making baseless accusations about the alleged tours.

"A Member of Congress accusing another Member of committing a crime, without evidence, is morally reprehensible and a stain on this institution," he wrote. "No Republican Member of Congress led any kind of 'reconnaissance' tours through the Capitol, proven by security footage captured by the U.S. Capitol Police."

"My Republican colleagues and I will not sit by while Democrats accuse their colleagues of treason for political gain. This type of conduct must not be tolerated." 

The voluntary request to Loudermilk comes a week after the committee, comprised of seven Democrats and two Republicans, subpoenaed five of their Republican colleagues, including Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

The decision to issue subpoenas to McCarthy and Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Andy Biggs of Arizona and Mo Brooks of Alabama was a dramatic show of force by the panel, which has already interviewed nearly 1,000 witnesses and collected more than 100,000 documents as it investigates the worst attack on the Capitol in two centuries.

The five Republicans, all of whom have repeatedly downplayed the investigation’s legitimacy, have yet to say whether they will comply.

In total, the committee has now requested cooperation from at least eight lawmakers it believes have information crucial to the planning and execution of the attack and former President Donald Trump’s potential role in inciting it.