Federal prosecutors said late Monday that they would not prosecute “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” employees who were arrested last month at the United States Capitol complex on charges of unlawful entry.
When members of a production team for the CBS show were arrested on June 16, they were filming a segment featuring Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, a cigar-munching dog doll voiced by comedian Robert Smigel, who was one of those arrested. Mr. Colbert later said on his show that they engaged in “high jinks with intent to cheat.”
The arrests, in a hallway of the Longworth House office building, were notable in part because they occurred shortly after Congress began televised hearings into the January 6, 2021 attack, in which supporters of President Donald J. Trump forcibly seized the Capitol. complex stormed.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said in a brief statement Monday that it would not pursue felony charges against the nine people arrested by the Capitol Police because the case was not strong enough.
The crew members had been invited to enter the building on two separate occasions by congressional officials who had never asked them to leave, although Capitol Police did tell some members of the group to have an escort, the statement said.
To uphold convictions on charges of wrongful entry, prosecutors would have to prove beyond reasonable doubt that “these invited guests were guilty of the offense of wrongful entry because their escort chose to leave them unattended,” it said.
“We do not believe the office is likely to obtain and maintain convictions on these charges,” the statement said, adding that the defendants would not be required to attend a court hearing scheduled for Wednesday.
The statement did not mention who had visited the production team in the Longworth House office building. Mr. Colbert said on his show that the team had been invited to interview Democratic and Republican members of Congress about the Jan. 6 hearings.
Spokespersons for Justice and CBS did not immediately respond to requests for comment overnight.
After the arrests last month, Fox News host Tucker Carlson said the producers of the “Late Show” had “revolted.” Mr Colbert said a few days later that such criticism amounted to a “shameful and grotesque insult” to the memory of those who died in the January 6 attack.
“But who knows,” he joked on his show, “maybe there was a massive conspiracy to overthrow the United States government with a rubber Rottweiler.”
Glenn Thrush reporting contributed.