House Democrats on Wednesday demanded an immediate examination into "suspicious behavior" and access that they insisted was granted to visitors to the U.S. Capitol a day before the protest. Thirty-four lawmakers led by Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J. -- who first went public with the "reconnaissance" tour claims -- forced the Capitol Police and the acting House and Senate sergeants-at-arms to investigate the matter in a letter.
"I also intend to see that those members of Congress who abetted him, those members of Congress who had groups coming through the capitol that I saw on Jan. 5 for reconnaissance for the next day. Those members of Congress who incited the violent crowd. Those members of Congress that attempted to help our president undermine our democracy, I'm going to see that they're held accountable," Sherrill stated on Tuesday.
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Rep. Andre Carson, D-Ind., signed the letter and explained he thinks his and Sherrill's matters "must be fully investigated."
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"While I did not see everything that Congresswoman Sherrill witnessed, but after speaking with her, I was very alarmed by her description of what she witnessed and described," Carson said in a statement. "Added to my own observations, I believe these concerns must be fully investigated."
The letter does not mention any members or staff who may have begun the claimed "reconnaissance" tours, as Sherrill called them, or present more details on why the visitors seemed suspicious.
"The visitors encountered by some of the Members of Congress on this letter appeared to be associated with the rally at the White House the following day," the lawmakers wrote. "Members of the group that attacked the Capitol seemed to have an unusually detailed knowledge of the layout of the Capitol Complex. The presence of these groups within the Capitol Complex was indeed suspicious."
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Rep. Kim Schrier, D-Wash., who did not sign the letter, told Cheddar’s J.D. Durkin that demonstrators who invaded the Capitol appeared to have inside knowledge of the Capitol building.
"The perpetrators, terrorists were able to find locations in the Capitol that I probably could not find," she explained.
House Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., maintained that idea in an interview. Noting that there had been "activity outside of my inner office where most people don't know where that is."
"The office with my name on the door was not touched," Clyburn added. "But the office where I do most of my work, they were on that floor and outside that door."
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