Why did Lauren Boebert lead a late-night Capitol tour three weeks before Jan. 6?

[UpInArms]

On the night of Dec. 12, 2020, the day of the first Stop the Steal rally in Washington and three weeks ahead of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, several guests of then-Rep.-elect Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., received an exclusive after-hours tour of the Capitol building from the far-right firebrand.

There are several unanswered questions about this visit, which appears to have violated normal Capitol protocol in various ways. It's not clear who authorized it, since Boebert was not yet a member of Congress and had no official standing in D.C. It's perhaps even stranger that it occurred on a Saturday night, when the Capitol complex is closed. Later, in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack, Boebert repeatedly denied rumors that she had offered "reconnaissance tours" to would-be rioters shortly before that event. But her ambiguous comments appeared to avoid any specific discussion of this unexplained December tour.

According to materials reviewed by Salon, the Dec. 12 tour led by Boebert involved various parts of the Capitol complex, including the staircase in the Senate's empty Brumidi Corridors, Senate room S-127 and the Senate briefing room, as well as the then-vacant Capitol Rotunda.

… snip …

Furthermore, spots for such tours are not readily available, with only eight reservations available on any given day. It's true that Boebert was a member-elect at the time, but that's an important distinction: She certainly was not a sworn member of Congress and had no office, no staff and no official status in the Capitol complex. It's even more puzzling that this tour took place on Saturday night. The guidelines for member-led Capitol tours state they are only available on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and also that all visitors must sign liability waivers and all tours must be led by official Capitol guides, not Capitol Police officers.

More at:

https://www.salon.com/2021/08/04/why-did-lauren-boebert-lead-a-late-night-capitol-tour-three-weeks-before-jan-6/

[MiHale]

1. One of the first witnesses should be...

The Capitol Policeman that accompanied them on their trek.

[woodsprite]

22. Unless he's one of the 4 who have committed suicide since Jan 6th. nt

[jaxexpat]

42. Yes, that would be either inconvenient or convenient depends on POV.

The deafening silence about this "tour" is, to me, alarming. I suspect no TeeVee person has insinuated suitably repeatable sound-bites to sustain a necessary investigability. Or that some with testifiable knowledge about it don't want to further ruffle the feathers of those they consider the "next administration". Just as there are fortunes to be made "shorting" the market, so there are, undoubtably, those, comfortable in their bureaucratic niche, who will cynically cover, with testimonial scarcity, their bets .

[SledDriver]

50. This is a good point

Makes one wonder

[RAB910]

2. As much as I consider Boebert the poster girl for GOP treason

I am not seeing the sort of smoking gun that would prove the accusation of giving intel to enemies of the USA. I mean giving her family a sneak tour of the Capital may not be proper, but it's hardly a crime of sedition or treason.

[Demsrule86]

3. I do...and we have seen her pictured with the insurrectionists...she needs to go maybe to

prison in the end.

[PRETZEL]

6. Just based on the article itself,

yeah, there's not enough detail to really draw much of a conclusion.

But it really does beg for numerous questions being raised.

Just on the tour itself, I can't imagine a rep-elect having influence enough over Capitol Police or whomever approves tours allowing this in and of itself, let alone off hours and without an official tour guide.

I think the name of the CPD officer does need to be given to whichever committee would have oversight. This is clearly a violation of protocol and policy.

The same committee needs to know who was on that tour and their relationship to Ms. Boebert.

Also, why the Senate and what significance do those rooms have. They obviously have no relationship to Ms. Boebert.

[ancianita]

18. And the Capitol Architect needs to be questioned about how the Capitol Police allow free movement

within the Capitol. And get his pledge to stop all tours by Capitol Police.

[Volaris]

17. Right. For the time being, I'll chalk this up to her being too stupid to know that

What she was doing, she wasnt supposed to be doing.
Family? Ok, sure. You're an idiot. Next.

NOT Family? Hang on there a second, I have more questions...

[Merlot]

23. "To stupid" is not an excuse. And why is family ok?

This reeks, and for what it's worth, bobert does not appear to be stupid. I'd say she's way to clever to not know what she was doing. She came to congress to destroy it, and will take any means to further her goal.

My guess is her family would be likeminded.

[Layzeebeaver]

67. "Too stupid"

It’s not excuse. It’s a fact.

But I agree there is some level of complicity.

She needs to be held accountable, and if guilty then removed from the house.

If innocent, then I think I will need to take a pill…

[lagomorph777]

25. Seriously?

She is in BIG trouble. All the anomalies surrounding this event point to major malfeasance; somebody on the inside helped her set this up, and it is NOT going to be pretty when the facts come out.

[Champp]

43. "somebody on the inside..." A Republican dark-ops traitor perp

[lagomorph777]

44. Yup

[diverdownjt]

68. Your perp photo...

He's the wrong color.....

[lark]

29. It wasn't her family.

It was the militia creeps that committed sedition on 1/6.

[SeattleVet]

53. Could have been some of her seditionist militia-creep family members!

[stopdiggin]

59. evidence for this ?

this is a fairly substantive point. If what you are claiming can be backed up - this story goes to an entirely different level than where it rests right now.

[lark]

70. I read an article right after the riot that said she had given tours to militia fucks on 1/5.

There were pictures of her with the OathKeepers who were arrested taken 1/5 with them thanking her for the awesome tour of the Capitol. I'd bet it was deleted that same day because I haven't seen it since or heard this reported that way. That's why I want so badly for them to subpoena all cell phone usage by congress critters that day and see who was in communication with the terrorists. She and her other congressional co-conspirators will be 100% caught red handed, I'd bet, if this is done.

[Lasher]

72. Is this the article?

GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert gave Capitol tour to ‘large’ group before the riots, Democratic lawmaker says

January 19, 2021

Amid a push to investigate whether any GOP lawmakers aided rioters at the Capitol, several Democrats last week accused an unnamed House Republican of leading groups on “reconnaissance” tours of the building before the Jan. 6 attack.

Now, two Democratic lawmakers say they personally saw one Republican — Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado — with a “large” group in a tunnel connected to the Capitol days before the attempted insurrection that left four rioters and one police officer dead.

Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) said on Monday that he and Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) had both seen Boebert in the tunnel outside the Cannon House Office Building with a group sometime in the three days before the riots. He said he didn’t know who was in the group or if anyone with Boebert later participated in the attack.

“Congressman [John] Yarmuth refreshed my recollection yesterday,” Cohen told Jim Sciutto on “CNN Newsroom.” “We saw Boebert taking a group of people for a tour sometime after the 3rd and before the 6th. … Now whether these people were people that were involved in the insurrection or not, I do not know.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/01/19/lauren-boebert-tour-capitol-riots/

[lark]

74. Yes, this is one of them.

There was another that was a copy of Twitter post with her and some militia creeps taken in the Capitol and they were thanking her for the awesome tour. It identified some of the creeps I think by name and organization and said she'd used them for security previously so that would be Oath Keepers or 3%ers.

[wnylib]

30. On a Saturday night, before she was sworn in?

[llashram]

31. if you say so

she is a traitor to our form of democracy. She follows the head of the traitorous RW, the FORMER president.

[PatSeg]

4. Whoa, I wonder who authorized that Sat night tour

[patphil]

13. Mitch McConnell was still majority leader at that time.

Either he, or someone else near the top on the Republican side authorized it.

[Ligyron]

5. If she was not yet a member of Congress then how does she know her way around the capital building?

Sumim funny going on here. And it ain’t funny.

[Wounded Bear]

14. Yep! Something funny going on, and not funny ha-ha...

Needs looking into, at least.

[liberalla]

19. THIS! Yes, and how would she have access after hours?

Had she been assigned her office and provided with keys yet?

Yes, the whole thing is highly questionable and stinks.

[lagomorph777]

26. Yup; somebody higher up helped her.

This is NOT going to be pretty.

[Ilsa]

33. Cotton? Gym Jordan? Ron Johnson? Who permitted this?

I can't believe she was able to do this on her own. I hope her phone, emails, and any other comms are reviewed.

[lagomorph777]

39. Qevin MqQarthy?

[Ilsa]

48. Ahhh!Good one! nt

[Ligyron]

49. Good job!

That is his official name from now on.

[slumcamper]

7. This is NOT hard. Get the surveillance footage.

CERTAINLY there are surveillance cams throughout the capitol complex, right? I'd think so.

So the footage of specific individuals doing specific things, e.g., taking photos, notes, pointing, etc., should be available for review. IDing those individuals should not be rocket science. Neither should tracking their movement and transactions leading up to and after January 6.

I expect the FBI is already on this and may have a few bombshells to come.

Or isn't answering the main question this easy? I honestly don't know...

[lagomorph777]

28. I would think a tour like that would show up on DOZENS of cameras.

[flying_wahini]

8. Surely they have her on Capitol security videos?

[nuxvomica]

45. The Capitol Police know who authorized it

No need for videos. But they didn't respond to questions. Which could mean the info is part of an investigation.

[George II]

9. Almost a month before she was sworn in!

[Laura PourMeADrink]

63. Which means FG was actually doing something after

he lost. His name is written all over this imho

[Ferrets are Cool]

10. If there is ANY justice left in America, we will get these answers

otherwise, out system is nothing but a sham.

[Evolve Dammit]

11. I'm feeling the same way right now. Lets see some damn justice please.

[Texin]

16. I'm beginning to wonder myself.

[Texin]

12. How the hell did she have access at that point?

I have to wonder if some rethug Senator, either present or former, had given her tours of the capitol complex previously (perhaps recently) and also gave her copies of keys. This, of course, would mean that whoever it was had knowledge and was complicit in this unusual and seemingly nefarious "tour". I suppose it could have involved another congressional staffer former or present who had wide latitude and current security access, but it seems pretty obvious she must have had assistance.

[lagomorph777]

15. WOW! This is a fucking bombshell!

This needs to be investigated in deep detail.

[malaise]

20. It is also true that tours were cancelled because of Covid

Lock her the fuck up

[world wide wally]

21. Seize her phone while they're at it.

[captain queeg]

24. Needs to be thoroughly researched

[Boomerproud]

27. These are not hard questions, but will they be investigated

and answered under oath? I am not holding my breath. My money is it goes down the memory hole and won't be mentioned again.

[calimary]

35. Unless folks like us keep it alive...

If it’s in Salon, then it’ll get read. By somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody who … which will eventually get to one of the investigators. Investigators who are members of Congress… who have constituents who ask questions and demand answers and start to make noise and …

This doesn’t necessarily have to fall down the memory hole…

[Laura PourMeADrink]

64. I actually was naive enough to think Honore was

gonna get to the bottom of it all.

[calimary]

73. Yeah, I know what you mean.

I did, too.

[ffr]

32. I only know one thing. If rolls were reversed and this had been a democrat

The republican war machine would let no stone go unturned. This would be breaking News headlines and they wouldn't be waiting for any harshly written committee letters to be answered. The gallows would be would be moved to outside the capitol building in preparation.

This was premeditated by the GOP so they could get their planning in order.

[Hoyt]

34. Think Salon is reaching on this one. Boebert is too stupid to think 3 weeks ahead, and

it sounds like her "guests" were her family including her mother.

There was another accusation that Boebert led a tour of insurrectionists on Jan 5th. That turned out -- according to USA Today -- to be untrue because the photos, etc., were from 2019. Clearly, the people in the photo were ignorant white wing rubes (including Boebert), but the accusations about the Capitol tour were untrue.

"Our rating: False
Based on our research, the claim that Rep. Lauren Boebert took a photo with rioters before a tour of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 5 is FALSE. The photo was from a rally at the Colorado Capitol in December 2019. Boebert also said she didn't take any of the individuals on a tour of the U.S. Capitol. She said she has been unable to give tours due to COVID-19."

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/01/16/fact-check-lauren-boebert-group-photo-2019-colorado-capitol/4163857001/

[calimary]

37. Has Salon commented yet?

Must confess, I am NOT willing to just hand over benefit-of-the-doubt to an individual like Lauren Boebert.

[hadEnuf]

46. If the story is authentic, then a right-wing extremist Congress person-elect

giving an unauthorized midnight Capitol tour 3 weeks before a right-wing extremist coup attempt on the Capitol kind of speaks for itself.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

65. Exactly. Always apply " what would an honest man do" theory

An honest man from podunk nowhere, newly elected, would never take their family anywhere near the Capitol, given the election was purportedly up in the air by lunatics & including the head lunatic - FG.

[tanyev]

36. Woof. And let's not forget this:

Link to tweet

The Speaker has been removed from the chambers.— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) January 6, 2021

[The Unmitigated Gall]

38. The instant the democratic process failed

To maintain Shitgibbon in power...that very instant, the scum began active measures to overthrow it.

[BobTheSubgenius]

40. The question in the OP's title has to be rhetorical.

There is no way that this situation is anywhere near BAU.

[Champp]

41. America deserves answers

[Marius25]

47. Because she's a traitor.

I don't understand why she hasn't been investigated/charged yet.

[Vinca]

51. Somehow the terrorists found Jim Clyburn's UNMARKED office on the third floor, but left his official

MARKED office on the first floor alone. Some of them also made a beeline for Pelosi's office. That wasn't accidental. Boebert needs to testify under oath. Assuming that means anything to her.

[MustLoveBeagles]

57. +1

[Grasswire2]

52. I want to know where she was at the time the pipe bombs were placed.

There's just something about that figure that has always made me think of Boebert.

And she has the chutzpah to do that deed.

[Mr.Bill]

54. It would be interesting to know

what kind of access is given to those who have been elected but not yet sworn in. It could be possible she was there as part of the transition process. Or maybe not. We need to know about this.

[bucolic_frolic]

55. Information leaks

Giving a tour with privileged access and information is a leak of vital data. Companies keep their security matters private. That's why they have security details, private means of communication, passwords, anti-virus, and most of all shredders. Allowing public access to private information is not wise in any form. Anyone who learns of such information could potentially leak it to someone who might do something with it, and information travels fast.

This tour is laden with red flags.

[halfulglas]

56. I'm not just wondering about Boebert's tour.

How many other Republican wingnuts also got these "tours" at odd hours when the Capitol wasn't supposed to be open? She couldn't be the only one.

[Pas-de-Calais]

58. Practice

[live love laugh]

60. Unlike MTG she's been quiet as a church mouse.

Seems like she’s hiding in plain sight.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

61. Wow. And Capitol locked down right? Good find ! nt

[Hulk]

62. Seems like a valid piece of information might be....

.... did any of her guests on this illegitimate tour end up storming the capital?

[Progressive Jones]

66. The FBI probably already knows the answer to that question. nt

[marble falls]

69. We need to look closer at the Capitol police, too.

[Kid Berwyn]

71. Absolutely.

Corrupt pols need corrupt cops.

Treasonous ones even more so.