Group associated with Stephen Colbert arrested and charged with unlawful entry at Capitol

A production team associated with Stephen Colbert’s late-night comedy show was arrested on Capitol grounds Thursday night.

Members of the group, initially on location around the time of a hearing conducted by the Democratic-led Jan. 6 committee, were charged with unlawful entry and released after they were found in the Longworth House Office Building, which was closed to the public at the time, the Washington Examiner has learned. The U.S. Capitol Police did not identify who was arrested but did acknowledge charges.

“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,” Capitol Police said in a statement obtained by the Washington Examiner. “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,” the statement added. “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.”

Among those in the group was Robert Smigel, known for being the voice of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, a cigar-smoking puppet, a congressional source told Fox News. The other people in the group, which numbered more than seven, were identified as Jake Plunkett, Allison Martinez, Tyrone Dean, Stephen Romond, Nicoletta Green, Brendan Hurley, Josh Comers, and David Feldman.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is a talk show that airs on CBS. The network acknowledged a production team was detained by Capitol Police.

“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,” CBS said in a statement.

“Their interviews at the Capitol were authorized and pre-arranged through Congressional aides of the members interviewed,” CBS added. “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.”

A source familiar told the Washington Examiner that the Late Show group was initially let into the Capitol complex on Thursday for prearranged interviews with members of Congress but “overstayed their welcome.”

The interviews were with Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Stephanie Murphy (D-FL), who both serve on the Jan. 6 committee, which held a hearing Thursday, as well as with Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA), according to Fox News.

A GOP aide referred to the situation regarding the Jan. 6 committee’s interest in Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) conducting a tour of the Capitol the day before the riot, even though the Capitol Police said there was nothing suspicious about the activities they observed and said staffers for two Democratic congressmen let the crew into the Capitol complex.

“On the 50th Anniversary of Watergate, Democrat staffers from the offices of Adam Schiff and Jake Auchincloss got a film crew into the House Office Buildings that then went around the same buildings that Rep. Loudermilk was accused of giving ‘reconnaissance’ tours of — a claim that’s been debunked by Capitol Police,” the aide told the Washington Examiner.

“Late last night, CBS employees who work for the Colbert Show were arrested by Capitol Police for unlawful entry and spent the night in jail,” the GOP aide added. “They were not credentialed to be walking around without an escort, and they were banging on the doors of the offices of Republicans like Kevin McCarthy, Jim Jordan and Lauren Boebert as they were filming a skit on the Jan. 6 hearings — a topic the Left and woke media keep trying to use to distract the American People from issues like inflation, crime, and the border.”

The Washington Examiner reached out to representatives for Schiff, Murphy, and Auchincloss for comment.

Rep. Rodney Davis (IN), the top Republican on the House Administration Committee, told Fox News host Jesse Watters on Friday that he “just found out about the arrests today” and vowed there would be some sort of inquiry, including into what the group was doing “without an escort.”

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The congressman also referenced the Loudermilk controversy and declared, “The only people arrested by Capitol Police for touring the House office buildings are the people who work for Stephen Colbert.”

In a letter Monday, Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger revealed what his force found with regard to Loudermilk and the tour. “There is no evidence that Rep. Loudermilk entered the U.S. Capitol with this group on January 5, 2021. We train our officers on being alert for people conducting surveillance or reconnaissance, and we do not consider any of the activities we observed as suspicious,” he wrote.

Still, the Jan. 6 committee has continued to raise the issue.

Joe Biden defeated incumbent Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, winning 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232. The Capitol riot occurred as Congress was certifying Biden’s win, and the Jan. 6 committee has worked to connect Trump’s efforts to overturn the results to the violence.

The Justice Department said this month that more than 840 defendants have been arrested in relation to the Capitol riot, including approximately 250 defendants charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers. Some members of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys have been charged with “seditious conspiracy.”

Former Attorney General William Barr said over the weekend that the Jan. 6 committee “isn’t set up as the optimal mechanism for getting at the truth, and there is obviously a big political overlay.”

The committee held multiple hearings last week and this week, including highlighting testimony from Barr saying that Trump’s claims about fraud sufficient to change the outcome of the election were “bulls***” as he contradicted claims by Trump and his allies that the race was “stolen.” Trump retorted that Barr was “a weak and frightened Attorney General” who “sucked.”