Several staff members of CBS’ The Late Show With Stephen Colbert were arrested on Thursday after they allegedly entered a House of Representatives office building illegally. Earlier in the day, the same group had been escorted out of the January 6 Committee hearings when it was discovered they were not accredited members of the press.
Nine people associated with the comedian’s show were arrested in the Longworth House Office Building after it was closed to visitors. Fox News reports that the group took videos and pictures near the offices of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Representative Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado) and Representative Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).
These were not low level staffers of the Colbert show. Included in the arrests were Senior Producer Jake Plunkett; Associate Producer Allison Martinez; Tyrone Dean; Stephen Romond; Nicoletta Green; Brendan Hurley; Josh Comers; David Feldman and comedian Robert Smigel who is best known for voicing Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, which formerly featured prominently on Conan O’Brien’s late night show on NBC.
“On June 16, 2022, at approximately 8:30 p.m., U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) received a call for a disturbance in the Longworth House Office Building. Responding officers observed seven individuals, unescorted and without Congressional ID, in a sixth-floor hallway. The building was closed to visitors, and these individuals were determined to be a part of a group that had been directed by the USCP to leave the building earlier in the day,” said a statement from the Capitol Police. “They were charged with Unlawful Entry. This is an active criminal investigation, and may result in additional criminal charges after consultation with the U.S. Attorney.”
Fox News’ Jesse Watters broke the story on Friday evening.
“These individuals, who we’ve confirmed work for the Late Show, were seen roaming the building while it was closed to visitors,” Watters said. “Capitol police say they did not have congressional I.D.s, and were not authorized to be walking around without an escort. They were booked; and they spent the night in jail.”
Apparently the group was involved in filming skits about the ongoing January 6 hearings and were seen banging on the office doors of Republican House members.
Watters also teased the notion that Colbert’s entourage may have been illegally allowed into the building by Democrats — namely Adam Schiff of California and Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts.
“The only people arrested by Capitol police for touring the House office buildings, are the people that work for Stephen Colbert,” Representative Rodney Davis (R-Iowa) told Watters. Davis, who sits on the House Administration Committee, promised scrutiny of the events which occurred on Thursday night.
“When we get back to Washington next week, we’re going to ask the questions that need to be asked,” Davis promised. “We’ll ask the security officials why these arrests had to be made.”
The same group had been escorted from the January 6 committee hearing by Capitol police, only to return later. There are suspicions that Democrat staffers may have allowed them in.
“It’s my understanding they were offered a way back in to the House office building by a staffer who worked for the other member of Congress (Auchincloss).”
CBS downplayed the incident in a statement, referencing a character created by one of the alleged criminals:
• On Wednesday, June 15 and Thursday, June 16, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog was on-site at the Capitol with a production team to record interviews for a comedy segment on behalf of “The Late Show.”
• Their interviews at the Capitol were authorized and pre-arranged through Congressional aides of the members interviewed.
• After leaving the members’ offices on their last interview of the day, the production team stayed to film stand ups and other final comedy elements in the halls when they were detained by Capitol Police.
The irony that House Democrats appear to have illegally allowed some media friends on the grounds of the Capitol at the same time that they’re holding circus-type hearings about American citizens essentially doing the same thing is too obvious to ignore. The House Democrats and their media allies are far more concerned about show over substance — a metaphor for the hearings themselves. They would rather make an attempt to garner cheap laughs at their opponents’ expense than follow the law.
Perhaps if CBS were truly interested in creating comedy about the January 6 unrest at the U.S. Capitol, they could simply add a laugh track to the farcical hearings themselves. There are plenty of opportunities for belly laughs there.
