Justice Department fails to indict former White House aide over her testimony about Trump and Jan. 6, sources say

By Hannah Rabinowitz, Holmes Lybrand, CNN

(CNN) — Justice Department prosecutors on Tuesday tried and failed to secure a grand jury indictment of former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson over her testimony about President Donald Trump’s role in the January 6, 2021, US Capitol riot, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Hutchison was a key witness for the special House committee investigating the riot. Her explosive 2022 testimony implicated Trump, saying he was aware of the potential for violence that day, but still chose to move ahead with a speech urging his supporters to march to the Capitol.

Attorneys for Hutchinson didn’t respond to requests for comment.

In a brief court appearance Tuesday, a Justice Department attorney told a judge the grand jury submitted a “non-concurrence,” meaning the panel rejected the indictment the DOJ sought.

The prosecutor did not reference a defendant by name, but sources familiar with the matter confirmed he was referencing Hutchinson.

The long-running case is yet another attempt to target one of the president’s perceived political enemies. Republicans and allies of the president have repeatedly said they believe Hutchinson should be charged with perjury over her testimony, which drew the ire of Trump.

It is rare for grand juries to reject charges, particularly because the threshold prosecutors must meet is relatively low — that there was probable cause a crime was committed. Nevertheless, grand juries have declined to bring charges in several cases since Trump took office, including a single charge against former FBI Director James Comey and full indictments against New York Attorney General Letitia James and six lawmakers who urged service members to disobey illegal orders.

Hutchinson’s potential prosecution became a point of controversy between lawmakers and employees of the Justice Department, sources familiar with the matter have told CNN. Some inside the department believed there was not enough evidence to bring a viable criminal case.

Lawmakers across the aisle have also called on the department to abandon its investigation. Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana called the matter an act of “lawfare” directed by the president.

Hutchinson, a former aide to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, told the committee that Trump grew angry upon hearing that his supporters — who were seen that day with weapons, including guns and knives — had been stopped at security checkpoints. Hutchinson said she heard Trump say something similar to, “I don’t effing care that they have weapons. They’re not here to hurt me. Take the effing mags away. Let my people in.”

She also detailed what she heard were Trump’s efforts to force his motorcade toward the Capitol — an account that has been disputed by others who were with the president that day.

Former special counsel Jack Smith, who investigated the January 6 attack, told members of Congress in a closed-door interview earlier this year that Hutchinson wasn’t a powerful witness in the investigation, in part because many of her stories were secondhand.

Hutchinson also claimed then-White House deputy chief of staff Tony Ornato told her Trump lunged at a Secret Service member when the president was told he couldn’t go to the Capitol following his speech that day.

Ornato and others have denied this account.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

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