The January 6 Committee would like to interview Rep. Barry Loudermilk regarding a Congressional tour he conducted the day before the Capitol riot of January 5.
According to some, the tours were “reconnaissance mission” missions that were carried out by groups who wanted to stop Joe Biden’s election from being certified. Republicans have called the accusation a smear, and requested that the Justice Department (and the Capitol Police) brief GOP members about any evidence that Republicans may have assisted the rioters.
The request from the GOP was never answered by the Capitol Police or DoJ.
Loudermilk was notified by Liz Cheney, Vice-Chairman of the Committee, and Chairman Bennie Thompson, who both stated that they had received evidence that suggested that GOP claims that “there were no tours, large groups, or anyone wearing MAGA hats” was false.
Loudermilk and Rodney Davis, the top-ranking member of the Administration Committee, issued a letter stating that Loudermilk was present with a constituent’s family on that day.
Washington Examiner: In a joint statement, he stated that a constituent family with young children was not a suspicious group or a reconnaissance trip and said so in a joint statement. “The family never entered Capitol Building.”
Loudermilk, who is a member of the House Committee on Administration (Republicans), stated that the evidence from the committee contradicted the report. After reviewing security footage, the members of the Administration Committee wrote to the Capitol Police Board, reporting that there were no tours, large groups, or anyone wearing MAGA hats that might have been looking for entry into the building.
The letter stated that “However, however, the Select Committee’s examination of evidence directly contradicts this denial”.
The committee obtained, no doubt, a video of a tourist taking a guided tour in a MAGA Hat or other ridiculous nonsense. These tours are conducted by every member of Congress. Loudermilk and any other Republican member in Congress have not provided any evidence to suggest that they were aware of the tours or were involved in any way with the riots. Is it reasonable to assume that evidence of Republican congressional involvement isn’t leaked to either the Washington Post or the New York Times?
Even if some of the rioters were on these tours, it is impossible to prove that there was a direct connection. It is absurd to suggest a connection simply because the timing is “suspicious.”
Carl Sagan, an astronomer, stated that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Although he was referring specifically to alien visits to Earth, he could have been thinking of Democrats accusing Republicans of complicity with an insurrection.
This is a rehashed smear that Committee wants to repeat in the news lull prior to the public hearings which begin on June 9. It reminds me of Captain Queeg’s quest for missing strawberries in The Caine Mutiny. Queeg was aware that the crew had eaten the strawberries but he conducted the investigation anyway to try and relive the moment when he solved the mystery of the missing cheese in the early part of his career.
House Democrats are aware that no Republican member was aware of Capitol rioters’ efforts to scout the building. This is a false accusation without logic or evidence. All Republicans can do to refute this vicious smear is to make a record.
