Capitol Police said Friday that they are investigating allegations made by Democratic members of Congress that Republican lawmakers were giving tours of the Capitol to supporters of President Donald Trump a day before a pro-Trump mob revolted there.
Rep. Mikie Sherrill, DN.J. had said on Tuesday that on January 5 she saw “members of Congress sending groups through the Capitol … a reconnaissance for the next day.”
Sherrill pledged to answer “those members of Congress who incited this violent mob, those members of Congress who tried to help our president undermine our democracy.”
She has said that tours were highly unusual, both because of the timing just before the invasion of the halls of Congress, and because of Covid-19’s restrictions on limited public access to convention buildings.
On Wednesday, Sherrill and more than 30 other Democrats in Congress, in a letter asking Capitol Police and the acting sergeants in both the House and Senate to “report the suspicious behavior and access granted to visitors to the Capitol complex” on January 5. to research. .
Eva Malecki, a spokeswoman for Capitol Police, told NBC News Friday that “it is under investigation.”
The January 6 riot caused members of Congress, along with Vice President Mike Pence, to flee ongoing procedures in the Senate and the House of Representatives to seek safety in safe locations as a horde of Trump supporters roam the complex. raged.
Five people died in the riot, including a Capitol Police officer, Brian Sicknick, who was murdered by members of the Mafia.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, warned Friday of possible criminal charges if a member of Congress is found to have incentivized the rioters.
“When we talk about security, we have to talk about truth and trust,” Pelosi said at a news conference.
“To serve here together, we have to trust that people respect their oath of office, respect this institution,” she said.
“If in fact it is determined that members of Congress were complicit in this uprising, if they were helping and fueling the crime, then measures may need to be taken outside of Congress to be prosecuted for it,” the speaker said.
The violence in the Capitol began after Trump spoke to supporters at a rally on the Ellipse outside the White House, urging them to march to the Capitol in protest of ongoing procedures there to confirm Joe Biden’s election as president.
Trump was impeached by the House on Tuesday for instigating the riot.
Rep. Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat, tweeted a claim Monday that Rep. Pete Sessions, a Texas Republican, “had met terrorists who attacked Capitol and killed an officer. He told them to ‘keep fighting.’ They listened.”
Swalwell, added, “Out of a sense of guilt, Sessions deleted this tweet.” But Swalwell added an image of the now-deleted Sessions tweet from Jan. 3, which read, “Had a great meeting with people from ‘Stop the Steal’ today at our nation’s Capitol.”
“I encouraged them to keep fighting and assured them that I look forward to doing MY duty on January 6,” Sessions wrote.
Sessions deleted that tweet on Jan. 7, a day after the riot.
A spokesperson for Sessions did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
The riot interrupted the confirmation by a joint session of Biden’s Congress victory in the Electoral College.
After proceedings resumed on the evening of Jan. 6, Sessions joined more than 100 Republicans in the House who voted against accepting Biden’s victories in Arizona and Pennsylvania.