Federal prosecutors said Monday they will not file charges against members of a television production crew for “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” who were arrested last month in a House office building closed to visitors.
In a statement, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said nine members of the show were invited by congressional officials to the Longworth House office building on June 16 and that an escort left them unattended.
“We do not believe it is likely that the office will be able to obtain and maintain convictions on these charges,” prosecutors said in a statement.
Colbert explains the story behind the arrests of officials on Capitol Hill
Capitol Police have charged members of Colbert’s team — who entered the building on two separate occasions — with felony trespassing. Among those arrested is the voice of the Triumph the Insult Comic Dog puppet, who came to interview members of Congress about the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.
Because prosecutors are not prosecuting, those initially charged will not have to appear at a hearing scheduled for Wednesday in D.C. Superior Court. in DC, federal prosecutors try cases in both federal and state courts.
The incident drew the attention of conservative media figures, including Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, who said on his show that the group had staged a “carefully planned coup” in a segment that appeared to take aim at other TV anchors for their reaction to the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.
After the arrests, Colbert joked that the uprising was meant to “prevent a peaceful transfer of power” while what his team did was “puppetry of the first degree.”
A representative for The Colbert Show did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the decision to drop the charges. A spokesperson for Fox News also did not immediately respond to an inquiry.
Capitol Police initially said members of the group had been asked to leave the building earlier in the day on June 16, but returned.
In a statement Monday, Capitol Police said members of the group were warned several times before entering the Longworth building that they should remain with a staff escort “and they failed to do so.”
The statement added that prosecutors informed Capitol Police on Monday that the charges would be dropped. “We respect the decision made by this office,” Capitol Police said.
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