“There is no evidence that Lundermilk’s spokesman entered the US Capitol with this group on January 5, 2021,” Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger wrote in a letter Monday to MP Rodney Davippos in the top Parliamentary Administration Committee. “We are training our officers to be vigilant for surveillance or reconnaissance personnel and we do not consider any of the activities we have observed to be suspicious.” The Capitol police review was initiated at the urging of Davis. The police review of the security video from January 5, 2021, comes after the Parliamentary selection committee expressed concerns about Loudermilk hosting visitors to its office that day and asked to answer questions voluntarily. Manger said the video shows Loudermilk with “a group of about 12 people who later grew to 15” walking through the Capitol’s office buildings on Jan. 5. He also states that the group of visitors “did not appear in any tunnel that would lead them to the US Capitol”. House Republicans have suggested they release videos that they believe exempt Lundermilk from any hint that he led a so-called “reconnaissance” tour the night before the Jan. 6 uprising. Parliament’s selection committee declined to comment on Manger’s letter. The commission’s letter to Loudermilk last month said the commission had considered evidence “contrary” to earlier allegations by Republican lawmakers that security material from the days before Jan. 6 showed “there were no tours, there were no tours.” large teams, none with MAGA hats in the US Capitol complex. “Based on the evidence held by the Select Committee, we believe you have information about a tour of parts of the Capitol complex on January 5, 2021,” said Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi. Vice President Liz Cheney, a Republican from Wyoming, wrote at the time. Loudermilk and Davis issued a joint statement in response to the commission’s initial letter, dismissing any allegations of “reconnaissance” tours on January 5 and calling on Capitol police to release the video. A constituent family with young children meeting with a member of Congress in the House’s office buildings is not a suspicious group or ‘reconnaissance tour’. “The family never entered the Capitol building,” they wrote at the time.
