We reported last month about how a crew from the Stephen Colbert show was arrested by the Capitol Police in the Capitol complex in the Longworth House Office Building — one of the offices for members of the House.
Capitol Police responded on June 16th at 8:30 PM to a disturbance on the sixth floor. There, the police found the Colbert crew who were unescorted (you have to be escorted by Congressional staff if you’re in the building). The Colbert crew had already been told to vacate the building, and they were therefore charged with illegal entry.
According to Fox’s Chad Pergram in a thread on Twitter, they had gotten interviews with some members of Congress earlier in the day, including Schiff and Auchincloss. An aide of Auchincloss then allegedly allowed them into the building around 4:45 p.m. Then, the aide to Auchincloss allegedly allowed them back into the building at around 4 p.m. They were arrested, ultimately, near Boebert’s office
They were originally let in by Rep. Adam Schiff’s staff, but then got back in the building later in the day and were reportedly walking around unescorted for hours, taking pictures outside the doors of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), and banging on the doors of members of Congress.
But now, the word is in from the U.S. Attorney’s Office as to whether they will be prosecuting the case against the Colbert crew — and you probably could have predicted the answer to that question from the minute you heard about the case and the people who were involved.
Statements by the U.S. Capitol Police and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia on the declination of prosecution against the members of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert who had been arrested last month for alleged unlawful entry at the U.S. Capitol. pic.twitter.com/GAdlcwOxLq
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) July 18, 2022
Deadline
In a statement, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C. said that they could not move forward with charges because those detained “were invited by Congressional staffers to enter the building in each instance and were never asked to leave by the staffers who invited them, though, members of the group had been told at various points by the Capitol Police that they were supposed to have an escort.” [….]
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said that to prosecute, “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. We do not believe that it is probable that the office would be able to obtain and sustain convictions on these charges.”
So let’s review.
Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-GA, invited constituents to visit him at his office building Jan. 5, 2021. His staff showed them around and took photos before they left. They didn’t stay in the Capitol Building, and left as soon as they were finished. They didn’t get caught and weren’t banging on members of Congress doors or harassing anybody. However, the Democrats falsely claimed Loudermilk let people in for reconnaissance. But there is no evidence. But Democrats’ visitors are okay apparently to wander at will and pound on the doors.
Some of the accused claimed they were allowed in by police on Jan. 6. At least one defendant was exonerated. The defendant entered, but had done nothing else. As far as I know, we haven’t seen the DOJ decide not to prosecute any of the Jan. 6 people on that basis.
Are there two justice systems? That would make sense.
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