Remembering The Colbert 9—the ‘other’ insurrectionists

Last week, CBS News announced its decision to cancel The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, a decade after the show debuted.

While some on the Left are floating a conspiracy theory that President Trump forced the network to cancel the show, it has since been revealed that the show was netting a loss of $40 million a year. Colbert was paid $16 million annually.

The network’s announcement has sparked protests by the Left, including outside the Ed Sullivan Theatre in New York City where demonstrators held signs saying, “Colbert forever” and “Colbert must stay, Trump must go.” Minnesota Governor Tim Walz mourned the announcement, claiming Colbert “always told truth to power.”

Meanwhile, the cancellation was celebrated on the Right. Colbert, who made no effort to restrain his political bias, repeatedly used airtime to mock Trump and his supporters.

But it wasn’t just the show’s host who used the show for Left-wing activism.

The Colbert 9

In June 2022, nine staffers on the show’s production team were arrested while trespassing through the Longworth House Office Building, which houses congressional offices and is part of the Capitol complex. The crew was reportedly let in by Rep. Adam Schiff’s (D-CA) staff and was there to harass Republican congressmen “for the show.”

The crew members were uninvited, had no passes, and no escort. “The Colbert 9,” as they came to be called, were “loud, disruptive” and “theatrical,” and were banging on the doors of House Republicans. 

“Do you remember me? Do you remember me? It’s me. We’re going to leave something under your door,” shouted the crew members, according to Capitol Police. Police discovered that the insurrectionists were planning to leave an invitation to a cocaine orgy under Rep. Boebert’s door, as well as the doors of Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). 

The Colbert 9 were twice stopped by police on the same day and told they were not allowed to be in the building without passes and an escort. The first time they were stopped, the crew lied and said they were credentialed, which the police later discovered to be false. They had been denied credentials by the House Radio/TV Gallery since they were not press. 

Colbert’s crew was arrested for trespassing, but then-U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves dropped all charges. They didn’t spend a single night in jail.

Trump supporters were the ‘wrong’ insurrectionists

Meanwhile, Graves continued to aggressively prosecute Trump supporters who had been at the Capitol on January 6th for the same misdemeanor. Dr. Simone Gold, for example, spent 60 days in prison for a first-time trespassing charge, even though she had left the Capitol immediately upon being asked to do so by police—unlike the Colbert 9. Graves even threatened January 6th defendants with bogus charges to intimidate them and coerce them to accept plea deals. The Supreme Court eventually ended this maneuver.

Capitol Police: ‘It is unfortunate’ charges were dropped

Even Capitol Police were outraged by Graves’ decision to drop the charges against Colbert’s crew.

“It is unfortunate that despite all of the evidence the Department presented, including that the group or its leader had been told several times that they could not be in the buildings without an escort, that the U.S. Attorney’s office declined to prosecute any members of the group for Unlawful Entry,” USCP Chief of Police J. Thomas Manger wrote in a letter to congressional committees.

Stephen Colbert defends The Colbert 9

Stephen Colbert defended his crew and mocked January 6th defendants on an episode of his show.

“A couple of the TV people started claiming my puppet squad ‘committed insurrection’ at the U.S. Capitol Building,” Colbert told the audience. “I’m shocked I have to explain the difference. But an insurrection involves disrupting the lawful actions of Congress and howling for the blood of elected leaders, all to prevent the peaceful transfer of power — this was first-degree puppetry.”

The January 6th defendants were not charged with disrupting lawful congressional actions, inciting violence against officials, or preventing the peaceful transfer of power.

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