Just to follow up on our post from earlier tonight on Colbert-gate, Fox News’ Chad Pergram is reporting that a staffer to Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) let the Stephen Colbert’s film crew into the Longworth House Office Building after the U.S. Capitol Police had kicked them out:
1) Stephen olbert Team Was Denied Press Credentials. Was Let Into Longworth Later In the Day by aide to Dem MA Rep Auchincloss
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) June 18, 2022
2) A little more meat on the bone about the seven persons associated with The Late Show With Stephen Colbert who were arrested by US Capitol Police for unlawful entry into the Longworth House Office Building.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) June 18, 2022
According to Pergram, the group had tried to get press credentials to cover the January 6 hearings but were rejected “out of hand because they are not ‘news.'”
3) Fox is told the team tried weeks ago to get credentials for the 1/6 committee hearings. The House Radio/TV Gallery rejected the request from the Colbert team out of hand because they are not “news.”
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) June 18, 2022
4) The issue never even went to the Radio/TV Correspondents Association, which typically handles credentialing.
In addition to a regular Capitol Hill pass, a special “overlay” is required by press who want to be in the room, etc., for the 1/6 committee hearings.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) June 18, 2022
But they could have been in the building lawfully if they were invited:
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“Fox is told the Colbert team conducted interviews earlier in the day Thursday with 1/6 committee members Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Stephanie Murphy (D-FL).”
5) That said, the team could be in the office buildings if they were invited. And, in fact they were. Fox is told the Colbert team conducted interviews earlier in the day Thursday with 1/6 committee members Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Stephanie Murphy (D-FL).
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) June 18, 2022
They also interviewed Rep. Auchincloss before getting bounced from the building:
6) They also interviewed. Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) who is not a member of the committee.
Capitol Police shooed the Colbert team away from the 1/6 committee area when they were spotted.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) June 18, 2022
CBS released a statement saying that the “interviews at the Capitol were authorized and pre-arranged through Congressional aides of the members interviewed”:
B) CBS: "Their interviews at the Capitol were authorized and pre-arranged through Congressional aides of the members interviewed."
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) June 18, 2022
This is when the Auchincloss staffer comes into play:
7) However, the Colbert group left the House office buildings at some point. Fox is told they were let back into the Longworth House Office Building sometime after 4 pm et by an aide to Auchincloss. The reason: the aide believed the Colbert group had other interviews to do.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) June 18, 2022
And it sounds like CBS is claiming that this second trip was authorized, too:
C) CBS: "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."
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) June 18, 2022
We need a hearing to get to the bottom of it!
8) The group apparently then roamed the House office buildings unattended for hours.
They were arrested near the office of Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) around 8:30 pm et and charged with unlawful entry. They were in jail for part of the night before being released Friday
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) June 18, 2022
This *is* the question:
What did the J6 committee know and when did they know it about the Colbert insurrection at the Capitol?
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) June 17, 2022
We’re going to need to see phone records, too:
It’s time to seize Adam Schiff’s phone records to learn more about his role in the insurrection and the attempted attack on Lauren Boebert perpetrated by the coup plotters he illegally allowed into the building. https://t.co/2WCelWfiGp
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) June 17, 2022
Our democracy is at stake!
Will democracy survive the Colbert insurrection? Only if we all work together to destroy everyone who ever knew anyone involved in it. https://t.co/2dCYfkBvyD
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) June 18, 2022
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