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Days before the violent insurgency on the U.S. Capitol, the then U.S. sergeant-at-arms sent a memo to members of Congress banning tours of buildings on January 6, the day lawmakers gathered inside to certify the victory of President-elect Joe Biden, according to a copy of the memo obtained by CNN.
The lockdown was in response to alarm from some members of Congress who were increasingly concerned that large groups of pro-Trump supporters were walking the Capitol the week around the new Congress being sworn in leading up to January 6 .
It was a level of traffic that had not occurred since officials tightened access to the building in March last year to limit the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, several lawmakers and Democratic aides told CNN.
Visits to the building in the days leading up to the violent Capitol uprising became a critical point in the fallout from last week’s riots, with some Democrats openly accusing some Republican members of helping supporters of the president recognize the Capitol by organizing tours.
No evidence has been provided so far, but investigators are considering the possibility that some members of Congress unwittingly arranged visits in the days leading up to the rally to people who then became part of the crowd that took to the rally. storming the Capitol, said a US law enforcement official.
No evidence to date has emerged to show the complicity of members of Congress, but prosecutors are examining whether some people may have used tours to familiarize themselves with the layout of the Capitol building, the official said.
The touring ban also stems from concerns about who Republicans might bring on that day, a senior Democratic official told CNN.
Before the pandemic, the public had wide access to the Capitol complex, including the tunnels connecting member office buildings to the Capitol itself.
Afterwards, the Sergeant-at-Arms banned all tours of the Capitol grounds at the start of the pandemic, but members of Congress were able to ignore the guidelines. Lawmakers or staff tours never had to register visitors with the Capitol Police, a law enforcement official with direct knowledge of general protocols told CNN.
Capitol Police also do not keep security logs, two officers from the U.S. Capitol Police told CNN.
A police officer said: “The rules don’t apply to members. Never never. ”
Another officer said, “(Members) can just give up people. If they do, we are advised to inform the Sergeant-at-Arms. We cannot stop them.
The January 4 letter obtained by CNN went further and banned all touring. On January 6, Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving of the then United States House wrote explicitly that the Capitol and the Capitol Visitor Center “remain closed to all visits, including visits by members, of the personnel and public ”on January 6.
CNN could only see part of the letter because the rest contained relevant security information.
Irving resigned last week after the riots. CNN reached out to Irving, the Acting Sergeant-at-Arms, U.S. Capitol Police and former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund to explain why there was a need to ban tours on January 6.
CNN’s Ryan Nobles, Peter Nickeas and Mark Morales contributed to this article.
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