The U.S. Attorney’s office for Washington, D.C., announced that it would not be seeking to prosecute several staffers of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” for trespassing at a U.S. House building.
Prosecutors said the case against the staffers was not strong enough, given that nobody had technically told the staffers to leave after they visited politicians.
“After a comprehensive review of all of the evidence and the relevant legal authority, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia has determined that it cannot move forward with misdemeanor charges of unlawful entry against the nine individuals who were arrested on June 16, 2022 at the Longworth Office Building,” read a statement released to the media.
“The individuals, who entered the building on two separate occasions, were invited by Congressional staffers to enter the building in each instance and were never asked to leave by the staffers who invited them,” the statement continued.
“The Office would be required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that these invited guests were guilty of the crime of unlawful entry because their escort chose to leave them unattended,” they explained.
Since prosecutors said they didn’t believe it was likely that they would be able to obtain convictions, they dropped the charges.
Among those arrested at the Capitol was comedian Robert Smigel, who voices the puppet character of Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog. The staffers were reportedly taking videos and photographs outside the offices of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Col.).
Many critics on the right have compared the trespassing of the Colbert staffers to the rioting at the U.S. Capitol by some pro-Trump protesters on Jan. 6 to highlight what they believe is a double standard.
“This is an attack on the rule of law & demonstrates that the Biden DOJ has become a POLITICAL POLICE FORCE, doling out different punishments for the same crime based on the political beliefs of the defendant!” tweeted Republican Rep. Mary Miller of Illinois about the announcement.
Here’s more about the Colbert incident:
Members of Colbert’s ‘Late Show’ charged with unlawful entry in U.S. Capitol www.youtube.com