The head of the United States Capitol Police on Monday shot down claims by the Democrat-run January 6 Committee that a GOP congressman led protesters on a reconnaissance mission on the eve of the riots.
The panel had claimed Representative Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) had ushered a group of protesters through the Capitol the day before supporters of then-President Donald Trump rioted and stormed the building. But Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger wrote in a letter to a GOP lawmaker obtained by Just the News that there was no evidence supporting the claim.
“There is no evidence that Representative Loudermilk entered the U.S. Capitol with this group on January 5, 2021,” Manger wrote in a letter to Representative Rodney Davis (R-IL), the ranking Republican on the House Administration Committee. “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.”
The January 6 committee suggested GOP Rep Loudermilk had led rioters on a 'reconnaissance' tour before the Capitol riot. Now, Capitol police debunk theory. https://t.co/j8Zky2wcr1 and https://t.co/Fvw54XLki8
— Byron York (@ByronYork) June 14, 2022
Last month, Representative Bennie Thompson (D-MS) and Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY), leaders of the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack, called for Loudermilk to testify as to why he gave constituents the tour, suggesting he was leading a scouting mission.
“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,” Cheney and Thompson wrote. “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.”
Representative Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ), a former federal prosecutor, had earlier claimed that GOP lawmakers gave tours the day before the riots and engaged in “suspicious behavior,” giving future rioters “an unusually detailed knowledge of the layout of the Capitol Complex.”
But Loudermilk’s group of 12 to 15 constituents never entered the Capitol and only visited an exhibit in the Rayburn House Office building, Manger wrote.
“At no time did the group appear in any tunnels that would have led them to the U.S. Capitol,” Manger 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.”
Davis demanded that Johnson, Cheney, and Sherrill apologize and called for an ethics inquiry.
“The Democrats need to be ashamed of themselves,” Davis told the “Just the News, Not Noise” television show.