The Late Show staffers won't be prosecuted after being arrested at the Capitol
Looks like Triumph the Insult Comic Dog can keep on making insults.
The U.S. Capitol Police said on Monday that "the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia is declining to prosecute the case" against a group of nine staffers from The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, including Robert Smigel, who voices the aforementioned character on the CBS late-night program.
"The USCP arrested nine people for Unlawful Entry charges because members of the group had been 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," says a press release issued by the U.S. Capitol Police.
"The United States Capitol Police was just informed the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia is declining to prosecute the case. We respect the decision that office has made."
Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images Stephen Colbert
The incident in question occurred on June 16, when a group of the CBS staffers were arrested while trying to film a comedy segment for the show involving Triumph the Insult Comic Dog at the U.S. Capitol.
"Their interviews at the Capitol were authorized and pre-arranged through Congressional aides of the members interviewed," CBS said in a statement to EW at the time. "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."
In an episode of the late-night show that aired a few days after the arrests, Colbert explained that the Capitol police and his staff were just doing their jobs and everyone was very professional throughout the ordeal.
"Thursday evening, after they'd finished their interviews, they were doing some last-minute puppetry and jokey make-em-ups in a hallway, when Triumph and my folks were approached and detained by the Capitol Police, which actually isn't that surprising," explained Colbert. "The Capitol Police are much more cautious than they were, say, 18 months ago and for a very good reason. If you don't know what that reason is, I know what news network you watch."
"My staffers were detained, processed, and released," he added. "A very unpleasant experience for my staff. A lot of paperwork for the Capitol police, but a fairly simple story."
EW has reached out to The Late Show for additional comment.
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