CNN: Brazilian Judge Orders Seizure of Ryan Lochte’s Passport After Questioning His Robbery Account

‘The police spokesperson said it’s not routine; it happens when they think perhaps there’s a bit of information or evidence that they’re not in possession of’

RUSH TRANSCRIPT:
BOLDUAN: “CNN senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is live from Rio. Nick this is confusing, what’s going on?”
WALSH: “It is, absolutely. The original story was extraordinary. The idea of Ryan Lochte and three other swimmers leaving the nightclub, being held to the ground by men disguised as police officers and escaping from that with their major valuables like cell phones not taken from them. We’ve just heard from a Rio judge here that they have issued search and seizure warrants for two of those four U.S. Swimmers, Ryan Lochte and James fegen. Ryan Lochte is no longer in the country. Here’s why this extraordinary move was made by the judge. This judge cites differences in the accounts these two men gave to police when they were interviewed. Now, they go on to suggest that these discrepancies refer to whether or not all the armed robbers had weapons or whether they were taken by surprise or not. We spoke to a police spokesperson who says a lot of people have been asking questions about this because the two men, the four men, in fact, only report money being taken from them. You could see in a CCTV video released early this morning they return, it seems, to the Olympic village still with many of the most important valuables upon them. Their watches, wallets. Brazilians asking how come armed robbers don’t take those items because they’re normally the key targets. That has led to this bit by the court to seize their passports and to search their rooms. We’ve heard from the U.S. Olympic committee they won’t explain exactly where these men are now. We know Mr. Lochte is back in the U.S. And I imagine his room is empty. So it’s unclear exactly what these warrants will be able to look for. The police spokesperson said it’s not routine. It happens when they think perhaps there’s a bit of information or evidence that they’re not in possession of. I should point out there’s no suggestion at this stage anyone has done anything wrong. There’s just a huge number of questions that particularly it seems Brazilian investigative authorities want to have answered. Hence this extraordinary move for an arrest, sorry, a search and seizure warrant like this. Of course, now, those four swimmers under intense pressure to explain their exact moves that particular night, never more so after the CCTV emerged this morning of them returning to their olympic village looking a little more relaxed then men held at gunpoint. Now we have this extraordinary move from Brazilian authorities, Kate.”

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