The Capitol Police said on Friday that they are investigating whether members of Congress had inappropriately provided visitors access to the U.S. Capitol before last week’s insurrection, responding to concerns raised by several lawmakers that some of their colleagues may have given rioters in Trump’s mob an inside look at the building ahead of its attack.
“It is under investigation,” Eva Malecki, a spokeswoman told ABC News.
News of the inquiry, which was also confirmed by the New York Times, comes after Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) suggested that some of her Republican colleagues had participated in a “reconnaissance” allowing rioters into the building in groups a day before the Jan. 6 attack.
Sherrill was joined by more than 30 lawmakers on Wednesday who demanded an investigation into visitors’ access to the Capitol ahead of the Capitol siege, noting “extremely high numbers of outside groups” who came into the Capitol the day before Wednesday’s riot when most tours had been restricted due to the coronavirus pandemic.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Friday warned that if any House Republicans had “aided and abetted” the rioters in an effort to carry out Trump’s plot to overturn his election loss, they would face consequences.
“In order to serve here together, we must trust that people have respect for their oath of office, respect for this institution,” Pelosi said. “If in fact it is found that members of Congress were accomplices to this insurrection — if they aided and abetted the crimes — there may have to be action taken beyond the Congress in terms of prosecution for that.”
Pelosi also announced that she had named retired Army lieutenant general Russel Honoré to lead a security review of the Capitol in the wake of the deadly rampage.
Pelosi said she had asked the former Army general to launch “an immediate review of the Capitol’s security infrastructure, interagency processes and procedures, and command and control,” in an effort to scrub out future security failures.
