Jan. 6 Committee Investigating Capitol Tour Led By GOP Rep. Barry Loudermilk Prior To The Capitol Riot

The House committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack has obtained evidence that a tour was given by Republican Rep. Barry Loudermilk (Georgia) on January 5, 2021, despite previous testimonies from GOP lawmakers claiming there had been “no tours, no large groups, no one with MAGA hats on” at the Capitol.

The committee requested a voluntary meeting with Loudermilk in a Thursday letter penned by committee chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Mississippi) and vice chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming).

Loudermilk admitted that he had brought a “constituent family” but said that the group he led had no connection to the Capitol breach.

“A constituent family with young children meeting with their Member of Congress in the House Office Buildings is not a suspicious group or ‘reconnaissance tour,'” Loudermilk said in a joint statement with House Administration committee member Rodney Davis (R-Illinois). “The family never entered the Capitol building.”

“The facts speak for themselves,” Davis and Loudermilk added. “[N]o place that the family went on the 5th was breached on the 6th, the family did not enter the Capitol grounds on the 6th.”

Loudermilk joins a list of House Republicans the committee wants to speak with. After refusing to appear before the committee voluntarily, the committee issued subpoenas for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California) and Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Scott Perry (R-Pennsylvania), Andy Biggs (R-Arizona) and Mo Brooks (R-Alabama). They also extended an invitation to Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), but have not issued a subpoena.

The January 6 committee will begin hearings on June 9 to let the public in on their findings over the past year.