Congressional Republicans have released evidence from Capitol police about a U.S. Capitol tour led by Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga.
The Georgia Republican brought a group of 12 constituents that inexplicably grew to 15 people into the Capitol complex the day before the Jan. 6 insurrection, but Capitol police chief J. Thomas Manger said an investigation did not reveal any suspicious behavior by the group.
"We train our officers on being alert for people conducting surveillance or reconnaissance, and we do not consider any of the activities we observed to be suspicious," Manger said in a letter about the tour.
A congressional staffer met the group at 11 a.m. at the entrance to the Rayburn Building, where the U.S. House of Representatives has its offices, and accompanied them to Loudermilk's office, and the lawmaker then went with the group at 1 p.m. to the Cannon House Office Building and briefly reviewed some exhibits there before leaving alone.
The group stayed in the Cannon House Office Building but did not go into any of the tunnels to the Capitol, where they were not permitted to go without a lawmaker, and police said officers would not have let them in without a congressional escort.
NEW: Rep. Loudermilk led 15 people through the House office buildings on Jan. 5, a tour that Capitol Police say was *not* "suspicious" or for "reconnaissance."
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) June 14, 2022
Select committee still eyeing whether any of the guests returned to Capitol grounds on 1/6.https://t.co/47tvcXl40H
Deleted earlier tweet which omitted the word "complex" from the Capitol Police letter describing Rep. Loudermilk's tour, which did not enter the Capitol itself but went through Rayburn/Cannon. (Nor did select committee say the group went into Capitol.) https://t.co/4xlET4UpOj pic.twitter.com/xXy9LZ8zk0
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) June 14, 2022
