Democrats continue to spread falsehoods about Jan. 5 Loudermilk tour

Washington Democrats on Wednesday continued to insist that Rep. Barry Loudermilk gave a tour to the Capitol, despite a recent police report saying the Georgia Republican was never on the tour.

Their most recent comments came within minutes of the Democrat-led House committee on the Jan. 6 Capitol riot releasing videos of Loudermilk staffers giving a constituent tour of the Rayburn Office Building – not the adjacent U.S. Capitol Building.

"On Jan 5th the Capitol was closed to the public," tweeted New York Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. "But surveillance video shows @RepLoudermilk bringing in an insurrectionist who was photographing member staircases + exits. He stormed the Capitol the next day looking for us w/ those references. @RepLoudermilk, care to comment?"

The video clips, in fact, show tour members inside Rayburn, not the Capitol, the day before the riot.

Her misstating of facts was pointed out by Washington Post reporter Aaron Blake who tweeted: "the Jan. 6 committee's letter doesn't actually say the man stormed the Capitol."

The committee originally appeared to suggest Loudermilk helped give a tour of the Capitol. 

"Public reporting and witness accounts indicate some individuals and groups engaged in efforts to gather information about the layout of the U.S. Capitol, as well as the House and Senate office buildings, in advance of January 6," committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson said in a May 19 request for him to testify on the matter.

On Monday, U.S. Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger sent a letter to Congress saying there was no evidence Loudermilk led a group of protesters on a reconnaissance mission the day before the riots.

Manger wrote that an exhaustive review of security footage found no evidence that Loudermilk did anything other than give constituents a tour of some congressional office buildings.

"The Congressman didn’t even enter the U.S. Capitol with the group, Manger wrote. "There is no evidence that Representative Loudermilk entered the U.S. Capitol with this group on January 5, 2021. We train our officers on being alert for people conducting surveillance or reconnaissance, and we do not consider any of the activities we observed as suspicious."

Loudermilk's Capitol Hill office did not return a request for comment Wednesday about the committee releasing the video after he was cleared by Capitol Police. 

Ocasio-Cortez was not alone Wednesday in continuing to suggest the tour was related to the riot the next day.

"This video shows one of the guests on Loudermilk’s inside Jan. 5 tour ominously name-checking Pelosi, Schumer, Nadler and AOC on Jan. 6 and chortling with a fellow Trumpie about using a weaponized American flag against 'somebody special,' " tweeted Maryland Democrat Rep. Jamie Raskin, a member of the Jan. 6 committee. 

Ocassio-Cortez said she feared rioters on Jan. 6, 2021, were at the door of her congressional office, which is in the Cannon Office Building, not the Capitol Building.