Jan. 6 committee scrutinizes Capitol tour led by Republican Rep. Loudermilk day before riot

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The House Select Committee investigating Jan. 6 renewed its calls for information from Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-GA, on Wednesday.

The committee is seeking information related to a tour of the Capitol that Loudermilk conducted on Jan. 5, 2021. While it is common practice for members of Congress to conduct such tours, the committee is suspicious of at least one of the attendees.

"The individuals on the tour photographed and recorded areas of the complex not typically of interest to tourists, including hallways, staircases and security checkpoints," the committee wrote in a letter to Loudermilk, adding that a number of the tour attendees had also participated in former President Donald Trump's rally the following day.

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The House Jan. 6 committee released images from surveillance video of a U.S. Capitol tour conducted by Republican Rep. Barry Loudermilk, Jan. 5, 2021. (Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol)

The House Jan. 6 committee released images from surveillance video of a U.S. Capitol tour conducted by Republican Rep. Barry Loudermilk, Jan. 5, 2021. (Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol)

"According to video recordings from that day obtained by the Select Committee, the individual who appeared to photograph a staircase in the Longworth House Office Building filmed a companion with a flagpole appearing to have a sharpened end who spoke to the camera saying, ‘It’s for a certain person,' while making an aggressive jabbing motion" the letter read.

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The letter goes on to allege the individual and his companion made threatening statements regarding Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, as well Democratic New York Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jerry Nadler.

The committee last asked Loudermilk to testify on the issue in mid-May. Wednesday's request remains only a request, however, and does not include a subpoena.

Loudermilk dismissed the committee's request as a "smear campaign" against him in a Wednesday statement.

"The Capitol Police already put this false accusation to bed, yet the Committee is undermining the Capitol Police and doubling down on their smear campaign, releasing so-called evidence of a tour of the House Office Buildings, which I have already publicly addressed," Loudermilk's statement said. "As Capitol Police confirmed, nothing about this visit with constituents was suspicious."

"The pictures show children holding bags from the House gift shop, which was open to visitors, and taking pictures of the Rayburn train," he added.

The House Jan. 6 committee released images from surveillance video of a U.S. Capitol tour conducted by Republican Rep. Barry Loudermilk, Jan. 5, 2021. (Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol)

The letter comes as the committee postponed its Wednesday hearing due to "technical issues." 

Read the letter

Wednesday's scheduled hearing was supposed to focus on Trump's attempts to use the Justice Department in his bid to reject the results of the 2020 election. Members of the committee say the postponement is not a major issue, however.

"Yeah, it's just technical issues," Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., told Fox News when questioned about the postponement. "I mean, we were, you know, the staff putting together all the videos, you know…It was overwhelming, so we're trying to give them a little room."

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Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., also told Fox that Wednesday's hearing will likely be placed into next week's schedule.