Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) may be the worst January 6th Insurrectionist
or another example of Kevin McCarthy's idiocy
“Sister, can you spare $20,000?”
That is the essence of what a member of the House Administration Committee, Barry Loudermilk (R-GA), asked of the Chair of the Republican National Committee, Ronna McDaniel. The reason is for the request is another two-by-four of political realism that just smacked Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).
It seems the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the Capitol has evidence of multiple GOP Members of Congress giving “reconnaissance tours” to MAGA/QAnon/white supremacist insurrectionists. Apparently, video footage from the Capitol police from January 4th and 5th revealed multiple “tours” taking place.
In the weeks following the attack, there had been accusations that two GOP freshman members of Congress, Lauren Boebert (R-CO) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), were seen giving tours of the Capitol to some of the people who later attacked the Capitol. Quick denials from the two far-Right media darlings and a combination of Trump’s Impeachment trial, turning the economy around, and fighting COVID pushed that story off the radar screen.
Of course, the open question about Boebert and Greene giving tours was how did they get permission to give tours. Due to COVID, regular tours had ended.
Enter Barry Loudermilk, who sits on the House Administration Committee. He would know how to request “special circumstances” to give tours. And as a member of the Georgia congressional delegation, he would have known Marjorie Taylor Greene and Jody Hice1.
The GOP narrative on this aspect of the January 6th attack was preditable. “No tours" was quickly debunked. Then “constituent families” imploded. In a recent radio interview, Loudermilk tried to mitigate the reality by insisting it was only “about a dozen people.2”
Loudermilk has, in an attempt to defend himself, asked for the evidence showing him and other Republican members of Congress from the Select Committee. The committee’s response was basically “sure, just pay he cost”. That’s where the $20,000 comes in.
To date, the RNC has paid for Trump’s legal bills, all sorts of 2020 election litigation, and travel costs for white supremacists to attend C-PAC conferences in Europe; but they might draw the line at this expenditure and ask the House Republican Leader to pay for this one.
McCarthy and his caucus have balked from Day 1 at any sort of investigation into the January 6th Insurrection. As a result, McCarthy has no one on the Committee to help defend the growing number of potential indictees within his caucus. And whatever evidence is in the hands of the Select Committee is being held close to the vest. With public hearings looming, several things have become increasingly clear.
The number of GOP members of Congress aiding and abetting the January 6th insurrectionists is larger than thought.
Loudermilk’s involvement with tours to insurrectionists points to a lot more planning than originally thought. Loudermilk worked in military intelligence in the Air Force and knew the procedure for being allowed to give tours for “special circumstances”.
Kevin McCarthy has no control over his caucus. But that’s hardly surprising, Boehner and Ryan suffered the same problem. The Tea Party faction answers only to itself.
Well to itself and Donald Trump.
Jody Hice (R-GA) has been implicated as part of a conspiratorial hub involved in the January 6th attack as has Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).
https://www.dailydot.com/debug/barry-loudermilk-january-6/
Traitors in our midst.