WASHINGTON — A federal grand jury in Washington on Tuesday rejected the Department of Justice’s attempt to indict former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson over her sworn testimony regarding the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, according to multiple news reports.
Prosecutors sought criminal charges against Hutchinson on allegations of making false statements, MS NOW reported. However, the panel returned a “no bill,” signaling that jurors refused to approve an indictment, a senior U.S. official confirmed to NBC News. During a Tuesday court session, Justice Department litigator Neville Hedley informed U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui that the grand jury declined to approve an indictment, although Hedley did not name Hutchinson on the record, CBS News and The Washington Post reported.
Disputed Testimony Before Congress
Hutchinson, who worked as an aide to Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff during the first Trump administration, became a pivotal witness during high-profile hearings conducted in 2022 by the Democratic-led House committee investigating the Capitol attack. She provided vivid testimony describing President Donald Trump’s conduct surrounding the violence, drawing sharp condemnation from Trump and his allies.
During those hearings, Hutchinson recounted how Trump insisted on removing magnetometers at an Ellipse rally, testifying he argued that the armed crowd members were not there to harm him. She also recalled being told by then-deputy chief of staff Tony Ornato that Trump grew enraged inside the presidential vehicle when his lead Secret Service agent refused to drive him to the Capitol, allegedly attempting to grab the steering wheel and lunging at his bodyguard. Secret Service personnel subsequently contested parts of that account, though Hutchinson consistently maintained that she testified truthfully under oath.
“Did you effing hear what happened in The Beast?” Hutchinson testified Ornato asked her shortly after Trump’s speech outside the White House.
Trump repeatedly attacked Hutchinson on Truth Social, describing her as a “scam artist” and demanding legal action. House Republican allies later submitted a formal criminal referral to federal prosecutors, alleging she lied to lawmakers.
Pattern of Setbacks for Prosecutors
The decision by the grand jury marks another rejection in a series of prosecutions initiated under the Trump administration against his prominent critics, NBC News reported. The case against Hutchinson was pursued by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, led by Trump appointee Harmeet Dhillon, according to reporting from NBC News and CBS News.
Federal prosecutors have encountered multiple obstacles while trying to secure indictments in recent months against other figures targeted by Trump, including:
- New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose proposed indictment was turned down by grand juries three separate times following an initial case dismissal, NBC News reported.
- Six Democratic members of Congress whom the administration attempted and failed to indict over a video advising military and intelligence personnel not to follow illegal orders.
- Former FBI Director James Comey, whom prosecutors charged earlier in October using a legal document called an “information” rather than obtaining a grand jury indictment.
Attorney General Todd Blanche told NBC News earlier this year that grand juries do not always get every decision right and defended the agency’s efforts as signs of vigorous work.
The refusal to indict does not legally preclude the Justice Department from attempting to bring charges against Hutchinson again in the future. Attorneys for Hutchinson and representatives for the Justice Department did not immediately offer comment regarding Tuesday’s grand jury outcome.
