Hundreds of Americans have been accused of illegally invading the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as part of a protest over the known irregularities of the 2020 presidential election, and hundreds now are facing charges. Many of them still are in jail.
But authorities in Washington say staff members for a television show who were found to be in the Capitol complex without permission, and were accused of “unlawful entry,” will face no punishment.
The New York Daily News reported that nine staff members for “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” – facing accusations of “unlawful entry” – will not be charged.
The staff members had been arrested last month but now are being given a pass on their offense, according to officials with the Capitol Police and the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington.
“Nine employees were filming a segment at the Longworth House Office Building about the Jan. 6 committee hearings, with agreement from both Democratic and Republican members of Congress, but were detained by police on June 16, their last night of production, Colbert previously confirmed,” the report said.
Capitol Police said that members of the group were told “several times before they entered the congressional buildings that they had to remain with a staff escort inside the buildings, and they failed to do so.”
But the statement now was that the U.S. attorney’s office chose not to file any counts.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson had accused them of staging an insurrection.
WND reported when the situation caught the attention of Republican members of Congress, who have insisted on being given all the reports, witness statements, surveillance footage and photographs regarding the incursion.
“These individuals were arrested and charged with unlawful entry after causing ‘disturbances’ at the offices of several Republican members, including ‘banging’ on their office doors,” a letter to Capitol Police from Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Rodney Davis, R-Ill., said.
The GOP letter also called out Rep. Adam Schiff, a Democrat who has become famous for claiming for years he saw evidence of “collusion” in that famously now-debunked Russia collusion conspiracy theory Democrats launched against President Trump.
The Republicans charge the TV show faction reportedly gained access to the building through Schiff, a member of the House Select Committee to Investigate January 6, and Rep. Jackie Auchinloss.
CBS officials said the crew was at the Capitol for authorized interviews with members of Congress.
However, Fox News said the crew members were arrested in the Longworth House Office Building and accused of unlawful entry.
The report said they had, earlier in the day, done interviews with members of the Jan. 6 Select Committee, including Schiff, Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla, and Auchincloss, D-Mass.
But they didn’t have the proper press credentials and were removed from the building.
Then later, Fox reported, citing sources, “An aide to Auchincloss let them back into the House office buildings around 4:00 p.m. and they were left unattended for several hours.”
Eventually they were discovered, recording comedy skits, near the office of Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo.
The Washington Times said the GOP members pointed out the earlier cases.
“Much has been made lately about unauthorized access to House office buildings, including debunked Democrat allegations that Republican members led so-called reconnaissance tours of the Capitol Complex in advance of January 6,” the letter said.
“Unlike the Democrat allegations of reconnaissance tours, however, the events on June 16 actually resulted in arrests for unlawful entry,” the Republicans wrote.
For 25 years, WND has boldly brought you the news that really matters. If you appreciate our Christian journalists and their uniquely truthful reporting and analysis, please help us by becoming a WND Insider!
Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].
SUPPORT TRUTHFUL JOURNALISM. MAKE A DONATION TO THE NONPROFIT WND NEWS CENTER. THANK YOU!
This article was originally published by the WND News Center.