DEMS RAP GOP SOLONS FOR ACTING AS TOUR GUIDES TO INSURRECTIONISTS

Democratic Congress members accused Republicans of giving tours of the Capitol to insurrectionists ahead of last week’s deadly siege of the Capitol as federal agencies opened investigations into the extent to which Capitol Police and some lawmakers were complicit in the mob attack, Luke Broadwater reported for the New York Times.

The Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan federal watchdog agency, has also signaled it will open an investigation that will include the roles that members of Congress may have played in inciting the mob seeking to overturn the results of the election, according to the congress Luke man who requested the inquiry, Rep. Jason Crow, Democrat of Colorado.

Several of Mr. Trump’s most ardent supporters, including Reps. Mo Brooks of Alabama and Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs, both of Arizona, have been accused of helping plan the Jan. 6 rally that led to the violent attack on the Capitol. Gosar’s brother and sister have also called for their brother’s ouster from Congress.

Mr. Crow, a former Army Captain, asked the comptroller general of the United States, who is part of the agency, last week to initiate a broad investigation into many aspects of the security breach, including the roles members of Congress played.

Mr. Crow, whose request letter was signed by 107 of his colleagues, said Wednesday that he has been informed the investigation is underway.

“To the extent there were members of the House that were complicit, and I believe there were, we will pursue appropriate remedies including expulsion and a prohibition from holding elective office for the rest of their lives,” Mr. Crow said in an interview. “They will of course be subject to criminal investigation and prosecution if that’s what the facts of the investigation show.”

The tours on the eve of the riot came to light after Rep. Mikie Sherrill, Democrat of New Jersey and a former Navy pilot, said Tuesday night on Facebook without offering evidence that she knew of members of Congress who gave “reconnaissance” tours to rioters ahead of the attack.

“Those members of Congress who had groups coming through the Capitol that I saw on Jan. 5, a reconnaissance for the next day, those members of Congress that incited this violent crowd,” Ms. Sherrill said, “those members who attempted to help our president undermine our democracy, I’m going to see that they’re held accountable.”

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