June 15, 2022 09:03 AM UTC

Ruh-Roh: Committee Looking at Pre-Insurrection Capitol Tours

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• by: Colorado Pols

As POLITICO reports:

People who joined Georgia GOP Rep. Barry Loudermilk for a Capitol tour on Jan. 5, 2021 photographed and recorded places “not typically of interest to tourists, including hallways, staircases, and security checkpoints,” according to materials released Wednesday by the Jan. 6 select committee.

“The behavior of these individuals during the January 5, 2021 tour raises concerns about their activity and intent while inside the Capitol complex,” panel chair Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) wrote in a letter to Loudermilk, renewing their request for testimony.

The video footage and new details released by the panel underscored lawmaker concerns that surfaced in the days after the Jan. 6 attack: that large tour groups appeared to surveil areas of the building a day before a violent mob smashed its way inside the Capitol. The select committee has evidence that at least one member of Loudermilk’s group returned to the Capitol the following day and recorded an ominous video message aimed at Democratic lawmakers…

…Capitol Police confirmed that Loudermilk brought a group of 12 people into the House office buildings on Jan. 5 at about 11 a.m., a tour that later grew to 15 people. The group remained in the complex for about two hours, even after Loudermilk had left. The new footage shows Loudermilk with members of the group as they walked through those buildings. [Pols emphasis]

Here’s the video released by the Jan. 6 committee:

This news should leave Colorado Republican Rep. Lauren “Q*Bert” Boebert feeling a little unsettled. As you may recall, Boebert was under significant scrutiny after Jan. 6, 2021, amid reports that she also led a large (and unusual) tour group through the Capitol in the days before the insurrection.

“We saw congress[woman] Boebert taking a group of people for a tour sometime after the 3rd and before the 6th.” — Rep. Steve Cohen says he and a colleague saw Rep. Boebert giving people a tour of the Capitol in the days leading up to the riot pic.twitter.com/dNPymWqjPY

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 18, 2021

Boebert’s excuse for that Capitol tour is similar to what Loudermilk has said in his defense. Both Boebert and Loudermilk have also publicly lied about giving Capitol tours prior to the Jan. 6 insurrection.