Jan. 6 committee requests interview with GOP lawmaker who it says gave Capitol tour on Jan. 5

WASHINGTON - The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by a pro-Trump mob issued a request on Thursday for an interview with Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., citing evidence the panel has obtained regarding a tour he led through parts of the Capitol complex the day before the attack.

In a letter to Loudermilk from the committee’s chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and the vice chair, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., the lawmakers write that the committee has obtained evidence that contradicts claims made by Republicans on the Committee on House Administration that “[t]here were no tours, no large groups, no one with MAGA hats on.”

Cheney and Thompson requested a meeting with Loudermilk next week - just weeks ahead of public hearings scheduled to start on June 9.

The latest request follows a slate of subpoenas issued to House GOP lawmakers who have declined to voluntarily comply with the committee’s inquiries. Loudermilk, who is a member of the Committee on House Administration, was one of the 147 Republicans who voted to overturn the election results and was in touch with White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows on Jan. 6, 2021, according to text messages obtained by CNN.

“It’s really bad up here on the hill. They have breached the Capitol,” the Georgia Republican wrote to Meadows during the attack.