Grand jury declines to indict Cassidy Hutchinson over Jan. 6 testimony

Left · 2A federal grand jury in Washington, D.C. declined to indict former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson over her testimony about the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack, according to sources cited by Raw Story, CBS News and ABC News. 1 2 Left · 1ABC News reported that the Justice Department had sought charges of lying to Congress over her testimony before the House Select Committee. 2 Mixed · 2NBC News, citing a senior U.S. official, said the grand jury returned a "no bill" on Tuesday, that Hutchinson's name was not mentioned in the courtroom, and that the refusal does not bar the Justice Department from trying to charge her again. The Associated Press, carried by Hindustan Times, cited two people familiar with the matter. 3 4

Left · 2Raw Story, citing The Washington Post, said that at a brief hearing a department lawyer told a magistrate judge the grand jury "had not concurred" in a proposed indictment; he did not name the defendant, but the sources said it was Hutchinson. CBS News cited four sources briefed on the proceedings. 1 5 Left · 2The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division handled the case, which The Washington Post, as relayed by Raw Story, called unusual for a false-statements investigation. Raw Story says the probe followed referrals from Republican Reps. Jim Jordan and Barry Loudermilk, who said her testimony was false; CBS reported that House Republican allies of the president made a referral. 1 5 Right · 3NBC News noted the Civil Rights Division is headed by Trump appointee Harmeet Dhillon; Just the News, citing Axios, said the division sought the indictment in a break from precedent, as the case would normally go to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington, led by Jeanine Pirro. The Washington Examiner reported the panel, which typically has 16 to 23 members, rejected the effort. 3 6 7

Left · 1Hutchinson, an aide to chief of staff Mark Meadows, testified in 2022 that Trump and Meadows were warned supporters carried weapons and that Trump grew angry when his Secret Service agent would not drive him to the Capitol. She relayed a story from Tony Ornato that Trump lunged at the steering wheel. 5 Left · 2Trump's driver later contradicted that account; Raw Story adds that no other witness backed it up, though several said Trump was clearly angry. CBS said it could not determine which parts of her testimony prosecutors were scrutinizing. 5 1 Mixed · 2AP noted she acknowledged at the time that she was relaying what she had heard from a White House security official; the driver's transcript, released by House Republicans in March 2024, contradicted some of her testimony but corroborated other aspects, including Trump's attempt to join the crowd at the Capitol. NBC said Secret Service officials later denied the account and that Hutchinson has maintained her testimony was truthful. 4 3

Left · 2Raw Story notes grand juries almost never decline to indict because prosecutors need only probable cause, and that a different D.C. grand jury in February refused to charge six Democratic lawmakers over remarks to servicemembers. The Justice Department had not commented. 1 5 Mixed · 2NBC and AP place the case among other failed efforts against people Trump has portrayed as enemies, including repeated failed attempts to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James and the failed indictment of six Democratic lawmakers; AP linked it to a pre-midterm surge in politically sensitive Justice Department actions. NBC reported that Trump has called Hutchinson a "scam artist" who lied under oath, that Attorney General Todd Blanche said in April that grand jurors "don't get everything right," and that the chief federal judge in Washington now requires the department to notify the magistrate judge when a grand jury rejects an indictment. Attorneys for Hutchinson did not immediately comment. 3 4