A Democratic House member says that he and a colleague saw first-term Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) give a “large” group tour of the Capitol days ahead of the Jan. 6 riot that left five people dead.
Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) said on CNN Monday that he and Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) saw the congresswoman give the tour sometime between Jan. 3 and 6.
Democrats have called for investigations into whether GOP lawmakers may have given tours to future rioters, though Cohen’s accusation is the first specifically naming another lawmaker.
“Only thing that I’ve seen, Congressman Yarmuth refreshed my recollection yesterday. We saw Boebert taking a group of people for a tour sometime after the third and before the sixth,” Cohen said when asked about his colleagues’ accusations.
The Tennessee lawmaker said he and Yarmuth were walking through a Capitol complex tunnel and saw Boebert with a “large group.” Cohen said he didn’t know if anyone in the group was involved in the riots.
“She was a freshman, she might have had a large number of people coming to be with her on this historic occasion and just wanted to give them the opportunity to have a tour,” Cohen said. “But it was pretty clear that … she’s not on the home team. She was with the visitors.”
Christopher Schuler, Yarmuth’s communications director, told The Hill in a statement that the congressman saw Boebert walking in the direction of the Capitol as he was walking through the Cannon Tunnel going back to his office on either Jan. 3 or 4.
“While Congressman Yarmuth remembers there was a group of people around Congresswoman Boebert, he has no knowledge of who they were or if they were with her,” Yarmuth said. “He simply exchanged greetings with a new colleague and continued on his way.”
Cohen’s office told CNN that he has not reported the claim to the FBI or Capitol Police.
Boebert faced backlash over some of her actions on the day of the riot, including tweeting out the location of sheltering lawmakers. She responded to Cohen’s accusation on Twitter, saying she’s only had her children, husband, mom, aunt and uncle at the Capitol with her.
“I guess having a big family is a scandal now,” she said.
Boebert also sent a letter to Cohen on Monday in which she stated that his claims are “categorically false,” and slammed them as “extraordinarily irresponsible.”
“Your false statements are extraordinarily irresponsible during this period in time,” Boebert wrote. “Your carelessness has already resulted in multiple media sources and tweets spreading false information which has resulted in threats to my safety as well as the safety of my family and Congressional staff.”
When asked for further comment, Boebert’s office referred to a statement attached to the letter to Cohen.
“Cohen’s claim that he saw me give a reconnaissance tour with people not on the team is 100% false. I have never given a tour of the U.S. Capitol to anyone besides family members in town for my swearing in,” Boebert said in the statement.
“As Members of Congress, we have a duty to elevate the discourse and unify during times of crisis. Unfortunately, Rep. Cohen instead chose to go on CNN today to repeat irresponsible lies in order to elevate his own political relevance and to further fuel the division of our country.”
–Updated at 1:20 p.m.