Grand Jury Declines to Indict Former White House Aide Cassidy Hutchinson Over Her January 6 Testimony, Sources Say
A Justice Department prosecutor told a judge Tuesday that a Washington grand jury had rejected an indictment; the prosecutor named no defendant in court, and people familiar with the matter identified the case to news organizations as the Hutchinson investigation.
A federal grand jury in Washington has declined to indict former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, who provided testimony to the congressional panel that probed the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday. The Trump administration's Justice Department has been investigating Hutchinson over whether she gave false testimony to the panel; Hutchinson has maintained that her testimony was truthful, Reuters reported.
In a brief court appearance Tuesday, a federal prosecutor told U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui that a grand jury had submitted a "non-concurrence" — a rejection of the indictment the department sought — but the prosecutor did not reveal the proposed defendant or the charges in court, according to Reuters and CNN. Two people familiar with the matter confirmed to CNN that the case the prosecutor was referencing involved Hutchinson, and the Associated Press reported the same identification from its sources. The details of the proposed charges were not immediately clear in the initial wire accounts.
Hutchinson, a special assistant to then-chief of staff Mark Meadows, was a key witness for the House committee investigating the riot. Her 2022 testimony said President Donald Trump was aware of the potential for violence on January 6 and still chose to move ahead with a speech urging his supporters to march to the Capitol, CNN reported. Attorneys for Hutchinson did not respond to requests for comment, CNN reported.
Reuters noted that political experts have raised concerns about efforts by the administration to target the president's critics and political opponents. Trump pardoned nearly everyone criminally charged with participating in the 2021 Capitol attack on his first day back in office in January 2025, and former special counsel Jack Smith dropped his election case against Trump after the 2024 election, citing Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president, Reuters reported.
