Key takeaways:
- A federal grand jury returned a no bill on a proposed indictment of Cassidy Hutchinson.
- Hutchinson testified in 2022 about Trump’s conduct before and during the Jan. 6 Capitol attack; she maintains her testimony was truthful.
- Prosecutors can seek an indictment again, and the proposed charges were not immediately clear.
A federal grand jury in Washington declined Tuesday to indict Cassidy Hutchinson, the former White House aide whose testimony about President Donald Trump’s actions on Jan. 6, 2021, was the subject of a Justice Department investigation.
The grand jury returned a “no bill,” rejecting prosecutors’ proposed indictment. Hutchinson’s name was not announced in court, but a senior U.S. official confirmed to NBC News that the decision concerned her case. CBS News also reported confirmation from people briefed on the proceedings. The refusal does not prevent prosecutors from seeking an indictment again.
It was not immediately clear what charges prosecutors sought or precisely which parts of Hutchinson’s testimony they examined. The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division handled the investigation, CBS News reported. Neither the department nor Hutchinson’s lawyers immediately responded to NBC News requests for comment.
Hutchinson was a senior aide to Mark Meadows, Trump’s White House chief of staff. In 2022, she testified before the House committee investigating the attack on the Capitol, describing what she said she witnessed or learned about Trump’s conduct before and during the riot.
In depositions and testimony, Hutchinson said Trump and Meadows were warned on Jan. 6 that some supporters were carrying weapons to the Capitol, according to CBS News. She also said Trump tried to have officials remove magnetometers at the rally where he spoke that morning. NBC News reported that she quoted Trump as saying the attendees were “not here to hurt me” and “I don’t f—ing care that they have weapons.”
Hutchinson also recounted a story she said then-White House deputy chief of staff Tony Ornato told her. According to her testimony, Ornato said Trump became angry when a Secret Service agent would not take him to the Capitol and reached for the steering wheel of the presidential vehicle. NBC News reported that her account included Trump grabbing at a bodyguard’s throat. Secret Service officials denied the account, and Trump’s driver testified under oath that Trump did not try to grab the wheel, according to CBS News. Hutchinson has maintained that her testimony was truthful.
Republican lawmakers accused Hutchinson of lying under oath, The Guardian reported. Trump has called her a “scam artist” and a “total phony,” denied much of her account and suggested she should be prosecuted. In March, he shared an article about House Republicans referring her to the Justice Department, according to NBC News.
Hutchinson also testified that Trump declined to intervene as the attack unfolded and the crowd chanted “Hang Mike Pence,” The Guardian reported. She alleged that people in Trump’s inner circle offered job opportunities and financial help while she was cooperating with the committee, and that her lawyer told her: “The less you remember, the better.”
The failed indictment follows other instances in which grand juries have rejected charges sought by the Justice Department against people Trump has portrayed as political opponents. NBC News reported that prosecutors unsuccessfully sought to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James three times after an initial case against her was dismissed on technical grounds. The department also failed to secure indictments against six Democratic members of Congress over a video urging military and intelligence personnel not to obey unlawful orders.
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