generic Loudermilk, Who Gave Jan. 5 Tour of Capitol, Says Jan. 6 Probers Haven’t Asked Him to Testify. They Have.
Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) claimed Wednesday that members of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection “haven’t asked” him to testify, despite the fact that they have written multiple letters requesting that he answer questions about his role in leading a tour of the Capitol complex on Jan. 5.
Appearing on Fox News, Loudermilk dismissed the possibility of a nefarious character in the tour group. Host Laura Ingraham then asked, “So why won’t you go testify, they say.”
“They haven’t asked me to,” Loudermilk replied. “They keep asking you guys to have me come. They keep releasing this stuff to the media, but they don’t send me the letters.”
Last month, the committee requested in writing Loudermilk’s voluntary cooperation after saying it had reviewed evidence that contradicted past claims by Republicans that in the Capitol complex on Jan. 5, there were “no tours, no large groups, no one with MAGA hats on.”
The committee contacted the Georgia Republican again on Wednesday after it released video footage of a man who participated in Loudermilk’s tour shouting threats at Democrats the following day.
“We’re coming to take you out and pull you out by your hairs,” the unnamed man said in a video he recorded outside the Capitol building. “When I get done with you, you’re going to need a shine on top of that bald head.”
In their new letter, lawmakers write that the behavior of those on Loudermilk’s tour “raises concerns about their activity and intent” in the Capitol setting.
“Individuals on the tour photographed and recorded areas of the complex not typically of interest to tourists, including hallways, staircases, and security checkpoints,” they state.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Capitol Police said there is “no evidence” that Loudermilk led a reconnaissance tour of the Capitol on Jan. 5. "We train our officers on being alert for people conducting surveillance or reconnaissance,” Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger wrote, “and we do not consider any of the activities we observed as suspicious."
Loudermilk referenced this letter Wednesday night to claim vindication, adding that the committee could have used another way to get his attention.
“They could have picked up the phone and called me,” he claimed. “All of them have a House phone book and could call my five digit extension. Many of them have my cellphone…I would have talked to them about it. I would have shared information because there’s nothing there.”
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