January 6 committee has footage that challenges Capitol Police findings over alleged role of GOP congressman

CNN

By Annie Grayer, Zachary Cohen and Ryan Nobles, CNN

The House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot has released footage that shows one of the individuals to whom GOP Rep. Barry Loudermilk of Georgia gave a tour on January 5 was outside the building during the insurrection screaming threats about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The video, portions of which were released by the committee on Wednesday, appears to show a man taking photos of tunnels, hallways and staircases within the Capitol complex while on a tour led by Loudermilk. The committee also released footage that appears to show that same man marching to the Capitol on January 6.

The committee has not identified the man, but sources say the committee has interviewed him. The committee has also not provided evidence that the man in the video entered the Capitol on January 6.

The video released by the committee seems to challenge the findings of US Capitol Police as detailed in a letter sent to Republican lawmakers this week, which said the department conducted a review of security footage from January 5 and did not observe any activities it deemed to be suspicious or consistent with a reconnaissance tour.

Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger said the video shows Loudermilk “with a group of approximately 12 people which later grew to 15 people” walking through the Capitol office buildings on January 5. Manger also states that the group of visitors did not “appear in any tunnels that would lead them to the US Capitol.”

“On May 19, 2022, the Select Committee invited you to meet with us about evidence of a tour you provided on January 5, 2021. Based on our review of surveillance video, social media activity, and witness accounts, we understand you led a tour group through parts of the Capitol complex on January 5, 2021. That group stayed for several hours, despite the complex being closed to the public on that day,” the committee’s chairman, Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, said Wednesday in a new letter to Loudermilk.

“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,” he added. “Individuals on the tour photographed and recorded areas of the complex not typically of interest to tourists, including hallways, staircases, and security checkpoints.”

Loudermilk said in a statement to CNN prior to the video’s release, “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.”

The committee first reached out to Loudermilk last month. The committee also indicated it had reviewed evidence that “directly contradicts” previous claims by Republican lawmakers who said security footage from the days before January 6 shows there were “no tours, no large groups, no one with MAGA hats on” at the US Capitol complex. Days after the attack, some Democrats began accusing Republicans of providing tours to individuals who later went on to storm the Capitol.

Loudermilk has said this meeting was with his constituents, including families with children.

House Republicans suggested they may release video they believe exonerates Loudermilk of any insinuation that he led a so-called “reconnaissance” tour the night before the riot.

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