Jamie Raskin calls it 'troubling' that Republicans claimed no Capitol tours happened on January 5th

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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In a conversation with Raw Story, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) referenced the video the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack produced Wednesday showing Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) giving a Capitol tour to a large group of individuals. The tour took place the day before the attack.

"The committee is in possession of a video of one of the tourists who also was clearly part of the MAGA crowd on Jan. 6," Raskin explained. "He was calling out the names of Democratic members of Congress: Schumer, Pelosi, Nadler and AOC. And he had a huge reaction, we captured on video, with a fellow MAGA protester, in which that MAGA protester showed off how he converted his American flag into a weapon."

For over a year, Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) has maintained she witnessed Republicans giving tours in the Capitol at a time that the building was closed to all tours due to the pandemic. When a member asked the Capitol Police how Loudermilk was able to get around that rule, the member was told that because it was approved by the official, the police had no power to do anything.

Raskin told Raw Story that it was still part of the investigation and wouldn't comment on whether this video will be part of his presentation in the forthcoming public hearings by the committee.

On May 12, 2021, Loudermilk publicly said that he didn't give any tours ahead of the Jan. 6 attacks. It was a year later that he admitted that he did give "a tour to a family with young children."

By the end of the month, on May 20, 2022, Loudermilk said that he "gave the tour to the family with young children and their guests."

On June 14, the day before the video became public, Loudermilk said that he gave a "tour to about 16 people."

"Two sources familiar with the matter said, a member wanting to give a tour could have given one name to the appointments desk and have an entire group let in," reported The Guardian's Hugo Lowell.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) said that the video speaks for itself, but added, "I think it's certainly troubling that Republicans said that there was no such tour."

Sherrill signed onto a letter with over 30 other members of Congress who expressed concerns over the Republicans who gave such tours.

“Many of the Members who signed this letter, including those of us who have served in the military and are trained to recognize suspicious activity, as well as various members of our staff, witnessed an extremely high number of outside groups in the complex on Tuesday, January 5,” the letter from 2021 read. “This is unusual for several reasons, including the fact that access to the Capitol Complex has been restricted since public tours ended in March of last year due to the pandemic. The tours being conducted on Tuesday, January 5, were a noticeable and concerning departure from the procedures in place as of March 2020 that limited the number of visitors to the Capitol. These tours were so concerning that they were reported to the Sergeant at Arms on January 5.”

Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Lauren Boebert (R-CO) and Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) all said after Jan. 6 that they didn't give tours ahead of the attack.

At the time, Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) confirmed to Politico he was aware of “a couple” of names of Republicans who were being investigated.

With additional reporting from Matt Laslo.