GOP Lawmaker: Jan. 6 Committee Neglected Document Preservation, Ignored Security Failures

A House Republican reviewing the now-defunct House Jan. 6‌ Committee⁤ has raised concerns that the Democrat-led panel did ‌not properly preserve all records of their work.

This week, Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), chairman of ⁤the Subcommittee on Oversight for ⁢the Committee on House Administration, released records of his communications with Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the ⁢former head of the‌ House Jan. 6 Committee. Mr. Loudermilk first shared his copies ‌of the ⁤communications with Fox News earlier this ⁢week and alleged the Jan. 6 Committee did ‍not ⁣preserve its ‌deposition footage or documents covering any investigation of security failures at the Capitol.

Mr. Loudermilk​ told Fox News that the Jan. 6 Committee—which consisted of six Democrats and two Republicans hand-picked by⁤ former House⁢ Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)—was ‌supposed to ⁣investigate multiple aspects of the Jan. 6, 2021 breach⁤ of the ⁣U.S. Capitol. Mr. Loudermilk explained ⁤one aspect of the investigation, dubbed ‌the “Blue Team,”⁢ was specifically ‌supposed to look at ‍security failures by Capitol officials, but said that particular team appeared to have been “shut down” in order to focus more ⁣attention on investigating‌ President Donald Trump’s⁤ role in the event.

Missing Documents

“Usually when you conduct this level of investigation, you use a database system and everything is digitized, indexed. We got nothing like that. We just got raw data,” Mr. Loudermilk told Fox News. “So it took us ⁣a long time going through it and one thing I started realizing is ⁣we don’t have anything much at all from the ⁣Blue Team.”

Missing Documents

Mr. Loudermilk sent a letter (pdf) to Mr. Thompson ⁣on June 26,‍ asking about the apparent‌ missing records.

“I‌ was ‌concerned to discover that some noncurrent records were not ‌archived despite the requirements of the‍ Rules of the House of Representatives and the resolution that established the Select ‌Committee. The video recordings of transcribed interviews and depositions, which featured prominently during the Select Committee’s hearings, were not archived or transferred to the‌ Committee on House Administration,” Mr. Loudermilk wrote⁣ in June.⁣ “Only written transcripts ⁣were ⁢provided.”

Mr. Loudermilk’s letter also referenced communications Mr. Thompson had with the Biden White​ House ​just days before his committee closed down and Republicans took control of ‍the House. A letter (pdf) Mr. Thompson sent to the Biden White‍ House on Dec. 20, 2022, includes redactions and describes coordinating‍ with Ms. Pelosi’s office to give Jan. 6 committee materials to an undisclosed person. Mr. Loudermilk said Mr. Thompson did not disclose the communication with the White House and “there ⁣is no explanation of what ⁣transcripts these letters are referring to or ⁢why you—in coordination with then-Speaker Pelosi—did ‍not immediately archive the records with the Clerk.”

In a ⁣July 7 response, Mr. Thompson said (pdf) that Mr. Loudermilk’s June 26 letter ‌had made “significant factual errors” ⁢and asserted ⁣that the ​now-defunct ‍Jan. 6⁤ committee ‌”was not obligated to archive all video recordings of transcribed interviews or depositions.” Mr. Thompson said the redacted materials he described in his Dec. ⁢30 letter ‌pertained to sensitive information that needed protection and that the Executive Branch was still reviewing when Mr. Thompson disbanded the ⁣Jan.⁤ 6 Committee.

This week, ‌Mr. Loudermilk sent a letter to the Biden White House, requesting they turn ⁣over the unredacted version of Mr. Thompson’s⁤ Dec. 30 letter, which could reveal ​more information about the ⁢documents he kept secret. The Republican lawmaker also asked the White House for unredacted copies of all communications⁣ it ‍had with the Jan. 6 committee, and all documents the Jan. 6 committee ⁤provided to the White House.

Capitol Security Failures

In his June 26 letter, Mr. Loudermilk noted that his subcommittee ‌is tasked with overseeing the ‍safety and security of the Capitol.

Republicans⁣ have contended​ that security failures, lack of communication, and delays contributed to the ‌chaos at the Capitol​ on Jan. 6, 2021. ⁤In a report last year,⁢ Republicans in the then-House ​minority ​issued ⁤a report (pdf) assessing “Leadership and ‌law ‌enforcement failures within the U.S. Capitol left the⁣ complex vulnerable on January‍ 6, ​2021” but that the “Democrat-led investigation in the House of Representatives, however, has disregarded those institutional failings that exposed the Capitol to violence that day.”

Former Capitol Police Chief Steven ⁤Sund, who was in charge of police on Jan.⁤ 6, ⁢2021, has described ⁤how his officers were unprepared for the events that day, as a result of poor intelligence assessments prior ⁣to the events ⁣that day, and slow responses after he called for National Guard backup when the ​crowds gathered around the Capitol.

Then-House Speaker Pelosi called for Mr. Sund’s resignation the day after the Capitol breach and he stepped down on Jan. 8, 2021.

In an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, which aired Thursday, Mr. Sund described how threat intelligence​ teams that work for the Capitol Police were indicating “a low probability ​of ⁤civil disobedience.”