Grand jury declines to indict ex-White House staffer who testified about January 6

A federal grand jury in Washington refused on Tuesday to indict Cassidy Hutchinson, the former White House aide whose 2022 testimony to a House committee painted a damning picture of Donald Trump on January 6, 2021. Two people familiar with the matter, speaking anonymously to the Associated Press, said prosecutors had asked for charges and the jurors declined. The outcome adds to a run of failed attempts by the justice department to pursue people seen as foes of the Republican president, according to The Guardian.

The specific allegations prosecutors planned to bring were not immediately known. Republican lawmakers, however, had previously claimed that Hutchinson misled Congress under oath. A special assistant to chief of staff Mark Meadows, she told the committee that Trump grew furious when he was kept from joining armed supporters at the Capitol, reached for the steering wheel of his SUV after the Secret Service refused, and did nothing as the crowd chanted "Hang Mike Pence." Trump disputed her account on Truth Social, labeling her a "total phony."

Hutchinson has said people close to Trump floated job prospects and financial help while she cooperated with investigators. Trump was impeached over the attack but acquitted by the Senate.

Summarized by PolitiKool from The Guardian’s reporting. Read the full story at The Guardian →