Cassidy Hutchinson Avoids Indictment After Trump DOJ Push Over Jan. 6 Testimony Fails: 'Every Crime Imaginable'

Cassidy Hutchinson, the former White House aide whose testimony about Donald Trump's actions on Jan. 6, 2021, became a major focus of the congressional investigation into the Capitol attack, will not face charges from the latest Justice Department effort to prosecute her.

A federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., declined on Oct. 27 to approve an indictment sought by the Justice Department over Hutchinson's 2022 testimony, according to multiple people familiar with the proceedings.

A DOJ attorney confirmed in court that the grand jury had not concurred with the proposed indictment, although the defendant was not named publicly.

The case stemmed from allegations that Hutchinson lied to Congress.

ABC News reported that prosecutors were seeking charges related to allegedly false statements, but the precise statements or charges presented to the grand jury have not been publicly disclosed.

The grand jury's decision means prosecutors did not obtain an indictment in this proceeding. It does not establish that every part of Hutchinson's testimony was accurate or inaccurate.

The Justice Department investigation followed a referral from Republican lawmakers Jim Jordan and Barry Loudermilk, who accused Hutchinson of providing false testimony to the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack.

The case was handled by the department's Civil Rights Division, an unusual route for a false-testimony investigation, according to The Washington Post.

Hutchinson has maintained that her testimony was truthful, according to Reuters.

The Oct. 27 hearing itself provided little detail.

Neville Hedley, a Justice Department attorney, told U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui that the grand jury had not concurred with the proposed indictment, without identifying Hutchinson or specifying the allegations in open court.

Hutchinson was a top aide to then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows during Trump's first administration. On June 28, 2022, she gave televised testimony to the House select committee investigating the Capitol attack.

Among her claims, Hutchinson testified that Trump had been told some supporters were carrying weapons and still wanted security restrictions at his rally removed. She also said Trump wanted to travel to the Capitol after speaking to supporters at the Ellipse.

Hutchinson also relayed a secondhand account from then-White House deputy chief of staff Anthony Ornato about Trump's reaction after the Secret Service refused to take him to the Capitol.

She testified that Trump became angry inside the presidential vehicle and reached toward the steering wheel before lunging toward Secret Service agent Robert Engel.

Hutchinson made clear during her testimony that she had not been inside the vehicle and was recounting what Ornato had told her.

The testimony drew about 13 million viewers, according to Nielsen data cited by The Washington Post.

Hutchinson's account of the confrontation inside the presidential SUV was later challenged by the Secret Service agent who drove Trump that day.

In a transcript released in 2024, the driver said Trump "never grabbed the steering wheel" and said he did not see Trump lunge toward the front seat.

No other witnesses corroborated the specific physical confrontation described by Hutchinson, according to The Washington Post.

The driver's testimony did not dispute every element of Hutchinson's account. He supported the broader point that Trump wanted to go to the Capitol and was angry when that plan was blocked.