U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Howland, said he has heard reports from members of Congress that some members may have provided tours of the Capitol Building to people who a day or so later returned as part of the Jan. 6 protests and storming of the building.

Ryan, chairman of the House Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee, spoke Wednesday during a virtual press conference and provided the latest updates on the insurrection investigation and today’s House impeachment vote of President Donald Trump.

He said there needs to be some kind of independent committee to re-evaluate what happened on Jan. 6 and the days, weeks and months before the incident.

“This will be an active type of committee that will be ongoing and continue to evaluate the security issues around the Capitol,” Ryan said.

He said between 15 and 20 law enforcement members with open cases are being investigated for various issues by the Office of Personnel following police action on Jan. 6.

Ryan said he was told in confidence by some members of Congress on Jan. 7 that there may have been some Republican members of Congress who before Jan. 6 had given tours of the Capitol to some of the people involved in the riots.

“We have some idea who it is but I am not going to say or reveal any names just yet. I heard from a member of Congress who spoke directly to a couple of Capitol police people who mentioned this. The information was all forwarded to the Capitol police with the information that we knew. Basically the suggestion is that we should ask all members of Congress if they were giving tours in the days prior to Jan. 6,” Ryan said.

He said it does not mean that anyone was conspiring but it is something that needs to be reviewed.

“We want to see if some people in the tours that were given were doing some level of reconnaissance on what would happen the next day. We need to look at the videos and find that out,” Ryan said.

He said it has been difficult to get information from the Capitol police leadership. Ryan said he has had conversations with the rank-and-file members of the police department.

“We are not getting the informational flow from the Capitol police,” the congressman said.

bcoupland@tribtoday.com