Bizarre, Criminal law

The Late Show with the Capitol Police: Crew of Comedian Stephen Colbert Arrested in Capitol

Last night, Fox News broke the story that the U.S. Capitol Police arrested a group of staffers with CBS’s “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” and charged them with unlawful entry. The crew was reportedly shooting a skit dealing with Jan. 6th but ended up with the same charge that has been levied against the vast majority of those arrested after the riot. Fox is reporting that the crew was told to leave but regained entry through a staff member of Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D., Mass). They also interviewed House Intelligence Chair and Jan. 6th Committee member Adam Schiff (D., Cal.). The arrests could put Speaker Nancy Pelosi in an awkward position.

The police confirmed that a group of seven people were arrested. The group reportedly included Robert Smigel, 62, who is best known as Triumph the Insult Comic Dog and is a frequent guest on Colbert’s CBS show.  Others listed are Jake Plunkett, Allison Martinez, Tyrone Dean, Stephen Romond, Nicoletta Green, Brendan Hurley, Josh Comers and David Feldman. Plunkett is a senior producer and director on the show.

The crew reportedly gained entry earlier to interview Schiff, Auchincloss, and Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D., Fla.).  Later, the Capitol police found them in the halls and they were told that they had to leave. According to Fox, they later regained entry through an aide to Auchincloss, though it is not clear if the representative knew about it or if the aide was mistaken on their purposes. However, they were later spotted filming outside of the offices of Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy R-Calif. and Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo.

As I noted when this story was breaking last night, unlawful entry was the most likely charge because it can apply to remaining in the Capitol even if you were initially granted access for a legitimate purpose. Under 18 U.S.C. 1752, anyone can be arrested who “knowingly enters or remains in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority to do so.”

Since the crew was presumably not armed, the lesser potential penalty would apply of up to a year in jail. Jail time would seem highly unlikely though the Biden Administration has held those arrested for the Jan. 6th riot for long periods and sought maximum sentences. Again, the obvious difference in the underlying context justifies the release of the crew.  However, since they were arrested in the evening, it would have been common to have been held over night. It is not clear if that was the case from the initial accounts.

This is obviously not a major breach of security and not the equivalent to the Jan. 6th riot which caused extensive damage and interrupted our constitutional process in the transition of power. However, it also highlights how the vast majority of those arrests were not charged with insurrection or even seditious conspiracy but the same charge of unlawful entry or trespass.

If the crew thought it better to ask forgiveness rather than permission in remaining, it was a uniquely poor decision given the security rules after Jan. 6th. This could put some of these members in an awkward position. It is difficult to downplay such security breaches after the January riot. Indeed, Speaker Pelosi has repeatedly attacked Republicans for not taking the new security precautions seriously and imposing hefty fines for failures to comply, including evading metal detectors. She has denounced Republicans for “refusing to adhere to basic precautions keeping members of our Congressional community, including the Capitol Police, safe.”

It may be hard to spin these arrests or seek the dropping of the charges in light of statements of the Speaker, though she was also accused of evading the new precautions.

Ironically, Auchincloss has spoken about how important Capitol security is and how Jan. 6th showed that “people get through you, they get behind you and then the whole line breaks.”

Here is the statement issued by the police:

“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. 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.”

It is not clear what the additional charges might entail or whether there are others who might be charged.

Recently, Colbert joked how he was thrilled to be mentioned in the Jan. 6th hearings. Within 24 hours of the arrest of his crew, Colbert declared “come and get me” to the “neo numbnuts” charged in these cases. He said it was thrilling to “feel so seen” in such moments.

 

91 thoughts on “The Late Show with the Capitol Police: Crew of Comedian Stephen Colbert Arrested in Capitol”

  1. “[T]he U.S. Capitol Police arrested a group of staffers with CBS’s ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’ . . .”

    Go easy on the intruders. They were just out hunting for jokes. And what better place to look than the Jan. 6 committee?

  2. Colbert Staff and the person who let them to wander the halls should all be thrown in Jail, just like the Jan 6th, and remain their for years, just like DOJ doing to the Jan 6th. They violated the law and its serious according to the DEM Jan 6 Kangaroo Court. No Double Standards, equal under the law and same treatment as the Jan 6th

    1. We shall test your steadfast belief in the rule of law if and when Steve Bannon or Peter Navarro are jailed for contempt of Congress. I’ve gotta hunch that you and your fellow Trumpists will cry that they were railroaded. We certainly know what Trump will say. I doubt you will have the courage to disagree with him.

      1. So when Holder was charged with Contempt, and other Democrats refused and walked out, you agree they should be arrested and jailed as well? “Rules fir thee, but not for me”?

    2. Fair is fair….. they could have been jihadi bombers , illegals , anthrax carriers you name it. But alas they are of the same chosen tribe of corrupted media and they shall get a pass by the swamp as it does not fit the narrative.

    3. I demand to know who gave the order to assault the minority leaders door. I tremble just thinking of the fear on the other side of the door. Who gave the order to assault. Was it a conspiracy of two or more humans? Are the perps still held. Who bailed the perps out? Democracy is at stake.

  3. Got a great group here, Turley. You should invite them all to an open house. I’d like to watch you converse with these Trumpists to observe your nonplussed reaction to their hideous views.

  4. “though the Biden Administration has held those arrested for the Jan. 6th riot for long periods and sought maximum sentences.”

    Not for the people arrested solely for trespassing, as was the case last night.

    The people held in jail pending trial and/or faced with long sentences all did more than trespass (and what else they did varies with the person; for example, several are charged with seditious conspiracy, some brought weapons into the Capitol Complex, etc.).

    1. Solitary confinement for Jan. 6 riot participants draws criticism from Democratic senators and ACLU

      Many participants in the Jan. 6 Capitol riots are being held in solitary confinement in Washington, D.C.’s city jail, a situation that’s drawing scrutiny from Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bob Casey and the American Civil Liberties Union.

    2. Tribal loyalists
      People always see the flaws in their opponents
      Human all too human

      1. Close, but not quite…with a bit of careful tweaking, this comment could become a haiku.

  5. If everyone on Jan 6 had been Code Pink and wearing pussy hats then Pelosi would celebrate it as democracy at it’s best and nobody would be in jail and nobody would have been murdered by the Capital police.

  6. Somewhat tying together Biden / Democrat scandals and Darren Smith’s Teapot Dome article, the following might interest some readers. See the following site for historical pics of the Teapot Dome which has been relocated several times. Keep the picturesque articles coming Darren, perhaps of wine country travels

    re: Warren Harding and Teapot Dome Scandal:

    Although the President himself was not implicated in the transaction that had followed the transfer, the revelations of his associate’s misconduct took a severe toll on his health. Disillusioned and exhausted, he died before the full extent of the wrongdoing had been determined.
    https://www.cityofzillah.us/visitors/zillah_teapot.php

    Given Joe Biden’s cognitive impairment, his failing presidency and the constant DNC scandals, one wonders what toll these have taken on the President and his abilities therein. Nothing good, to be sure

    1. Of course, I do not know directly, but he seems not to care about wrongdoing, only about his personal image.

  7. “This is obviously not a major breach of security and not the equivalent to the Jan. 6th riot which caused extensive damage and interrupted our constitutional process in the transition of power.”
    Thank you for acknowledging this. It is definitely ironic but not the same.

    1. Who opened the doors to let the J6 protesters into the building? The non-violent, unarmed J6 trespassers are being held without bail aggressively and selectively prosecuted and stripped of their due process rights…no different than a banana republic.

      The Colbert idiots were told to leave and then came back. That is evidence of INTENT to trespass and break the law. Will they get the book thrown at them?

      Or will liberal leaning judicial activists posing as judges go easy on them thus proving to the world that the rule of law is dead and our judiciary has lost all legitimacy?

    2. Montage66 remarks:

      “Thank you for acknowledging this. It is definitely ironic but not the same.”

      It’s just those sorts of honest acknowledgements by Turley which are utterly lost on his Trumpist readers. It’s what separates him from them, and the reason I am convinced he privately would describe himself as a NeverTrumper. That is apparent given that years ago, Turley dismissed Trump as a “carnival snake charmer”- a delightful description of a well-known bald-faced liar.

      1. Until you as a Dem drone, acknowledge these Committee members of also being bald face liars, in Rissia collusion, and the two impeachments led by Schiff who literally lied daily about having “ irrefutable evidence” yet to be revealed, then you have very little to say about Conservatives.

        1. Your opinion is noted. I vehemently disagree with you. You will find that I am implacably opposed to your Trumpist views and will never cease shaming Trumpists for their lies.

  8. Unlawful entry laws on public property is such an evil joke. This is why we operate under a constitution lite now. It’s been so watered down taxpayers can’t even enter their own property. “No entry no taxation” should be the Jan 6 motto.

    1. You think people should be able to enter the Library of Congress, the Supreme Court building, the Capitol, the WH, … 24/7?

  9. The Colbert invaders will get a “naughty, naughty, tch,tch, don’t do it again” wrist slap for their illegal breach of the Capitol’s sacred perimeter.
    Meanwhile, there are still Jan 6 tourists sitting in solitary 18 months later, awaiting trial for exactly the same illegal entry charge.
    The Administrative State is obviously sending a message to the serfs: Shut up and obey.
    Or at least a message to conservative serfs.

    1. Ogre says:

      “Jan 6 tourists sitting in solitary 18 months”

      Typical Trumpist lie

      1. Solitary confinement for Jan. 6 riot participants draws criticism from Democratic senators and ACLU

        Many participants in the Jan. 6 Capitol riots are being held in solitary confinement in Washington, D.C.’s city jail, a situation that’s drawing scrutiny from Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bob Casey and the American Civil Liberties Union.

          1. It’s poor form to call someone a liar when you don’t know what you are talking about.

            “I do not believe in solitary confinement for extended periods of time for anyone,” Elizabeth Warren

            “Obviously, in any instance, I think solitary confinement is concerning.” Bob Casey.

            “Prolonged solitary confinement is torture and certainly should not be used as a punitive tool to intimidate or extract cooperation. We’re pleased to see that message is getting through to Senators,” Tammie Gregg

            “Nobody should be detained indefinitely in America for domestic law purposes. So they deserve their day in court” Lindsey Graham

            “I think the standard for justice should be the same for everyone. Whether you are trying to mob and attack people in D.C. or Minneapolis. Whether you break the laws here, it seems like there’s more than one standard, but we should apply the same standard to everyone.” Rand Paul

            It seems Jeff Silberman that most of what you say is rubbish based on your very closed and small mind attached to a big mouth.

            1. “Tourists” are not sitting in solitary confinement, you damn liar.

              1. You can call Elizabeth Warren a liar. Some of them placed in jail longer than what we see elsewhere were nothing more than tourists let in by the Capitol Police and taking selfies. That they were also potentially politically involved means they had a reason to be there as well.

                You call people liars when you are ignorant of what has happened. Some ended up in solitary confinement for long periods of time. That some of those might have gone over the line doesn’t mean they belong in solitary confinement. That you are ignorant is no excuse for your attitude.

                Your big mouth reveals your lack of knowledge and your tiny mind.

      2. They have been sitting in Solitary confinement. As for tourist, No absolutely not however, video shows a CPO leading them in through the building all single file. So there is something that is strange here. Also no way ALL the evidence and all the actions on Jan 6 or everyone involved has been investigated. Period.

    2. Or AG Garland will ignore it as he has the “protesters” committing a crime outside the Justices house, particularly after the threat to Justice Kavanaugh.

    1. I actually read the Robert Reich argument.
      Reich cherry picked data, took it out of context and ignored the Biden policies put in place that has hamstrung the oil industry.
      The recent responses from Chevron, John Kemp, Reuters senior markets analyst, and Michael Maharrey at schiffgold, Exxon Mobile, and the API were a more nuanced analysis.
      And the religious right? Seems to me, Biden’s campaign promise of, “We have to treat climate change like the existential threat it is. As president, I will:

      – End subsidies for fossil fuel corporations
      – Ban new drilling on federal lands & waters
      – Hold oil executives accountable
      – Rally the world to raise the commitments of the Paris Agreement”
      Biden -March 16 2020

      2. This short 4;15 minute report dovetails along with your post.

        It’s clear to me at this point the America/World hating Commie are flat out attempting k*ill us all.

        ***********

        The End of Oil & Gas in Biden’s America

        210,798 views

        ·

        Jun 17, 2022
        157
        Share
        Download
        Greg Reese
        Greg Reese

        Americans are being deliberately deprived of food and energy as part of the Globalist Great Reset

        https://banned.video/watch?id=62ad2ea9e80dab2bf0a5437f

  11. The carpet will be lifted the broom will be taken in hand and the dirt will go under the rug. The late night shows today suck.

  12. When did Nancy Pelosi know about all this, and what did she do about it?

    “When you come across information that looks like the Capitol Hill police had actionable intelligence with great specificity — we know when the events are taking place, we’ve got these bad actors talking about it on the internet, they’re publishing schematics of the Capitol tunnel system and everything else — that is a huge warning signal to any law enforcement or intelligence entity, that they have to take steps to prepare,” —Kevin Brock FBI assistant director for intelligence Former

    Regarding actionable intelligence.

    “This one bit of information probably deserves its own hearings to find out why proper steps weren’t taken well in advance of the January 6 events,” —Brock

    Now add 7 Colbert members arrested.

    “by current defined standards, that’s what an unauthorized breach of the Capitol complex and subsequent trespass labels you,” —Brock

  13. Might be an odd observation, but did they field their staffers from a high school? They all look about 12. This would explain a lot about his show, and similar shows, and the past year and a half in general has been a sneak preview of what our society would look like if inherited by the participation trophy generation (the grownups are in charge? Gimme a break). Colbert sure turned out to be a puerile jerk.

    1. James,
      Good point about the “participation trophy generation.”
      Dont recall who it was, but it appears that the college years are now also considered apart of childhood years, not not as adults.
      And for some, they might be in their 30s or even 40s and they act and behave like angst filled teens.

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