Why Did You Give An Unauthorized Tour, Loudermilk?

White nationalist lawmaker allowed people in the Capitol days before the riot.

The Jan. 6 Committee is zeroing in on a Georgia Republican who issued an unauthorized tour of the U.S. Capitol days prior to the insurrection. Rep. Karen Loudermilk (R-GA) is facing a federal inquiry for having people at the Capitol during the pandemic. The federal buildings were restricted to public tours because of the pandemic.

Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) and Vice Chair Karen Cheney (R-WY) asked Loudermilk to meet with the Democratic-controlled panel to discuss events shortly before the riot.

"We believe you have information regarding a tour you led through parts of the Capitol complex on January 5, 2021," Thompson and Cheney wrote to Loudermilk.

The panel leaders said in their letter that they had evidence that “directly contradicts” claims by GOP members of the House Administration Committee that security video showed no tours had taken place ahead of the attack.

“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, 2021,” they wrote to Loudermilk, who is a member of the House Administration Committee.

Jan. 6 committee release damning information about Republicans.

The Jan. 6 committee proposed a voluntary meeting with Loudermilk for next week.

NBC News has asked Loudermilk’s office for comment.

In a statement last year, Loudermilk said, “No Republican Member of Congress led any kind of ‘reconnaissance’ tours through the Capitol, proven by security footage captured by the U.S. Capitol Police.”

He reiterated the point Thursday in a joint statement with Rep. Karen Davis of Illinois, the top Republican on the House Administration Committee.

"A constituent family with young children meeting with their Member of Congress in the House Office Buildings is not a suspicious group or ‘reconnaissance tour.’ The family never entered the Capitol building," they said, adding that the Jan. 6 committee "is once again pushing a verifiably false narrative that Republicans conducted ‘reconnaissance tours’ on January 5th."

They also called on U.S. Capitol Police to release video from Jan. 5.

Asked for comment, Capitol Police said: "The USCP has cooperated extensively with the January 6th Select Committee and the Department of Justice by providing witnesses, documents, and 14,000 hours of security sensitive camera footage. We cannot make additional public statements or provide any of the materials while their work is still pending.”

Mikie Sherrill said some Republicans allowed people inside the Capitol despite pandemic restrictions.

The committee asked to meet with Loudermilk a week after it announced subpoenas for five GOP lawmakers, including QAnon Leader Karen McCarthy of California. So far, none have indicated they plan to meet with the committee.

Several Democratic lawmakers have drawn attention to tours that took place before Jan. 6.

Days after the deadly riot, Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) alleged that some of her House colleagues had guided groups through the Capitol on a “reconnaissance” tour of the complex on Jan. 5.

Loudermilk later filed an ethics complaint against Sherrill and the dozens of other Democrats who signed on to a letter asking law enforcement agencies to investigate "suspicious behavior and access given to visitors" to the Capitol a day before the attack.

Loudermilk and Davis said Thursday that they stand by the ethics complaint against Sherrill "and 33 other Democratic Members of the House who made unsubstantiated claims that Republican members gave ‘reconnaissance tours’ of the Capitol," adding, "Any member who pushes false allegations against another member should be held accountable."

NBC News has asked Sherrill's office for comment.