DOJ reportedly seeks indictment of Cassidy Hutchinson Over Jan. 6 testimony

The Justice Department is reportedly seeking a federal indictment of Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, on charges of lying to Congress in her Jan. 6 testimony, Punchbowl News reported Oct. 8, citing sources familiar with the plans.

According to Punchbowl, the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Civil Rights Division brought evidence to a federal grand jury Oct. 6 and is expected to present more evidence and additional witnesses later this month. Hutchinson has not been subpoenaed to appear, the sources said. 

Prosecutors have not publicly identified the statements they contend were false, Just the News reported, and no indictment has been announced. Neither the DOJ nor Hutchinson’s representatives responded to the Daily Caller’s requests for comment.

A Sept. 24 federal court order quashing a BBC subpoena in President Donald Trump’s defamation suit described Hutchinson as “presently the subject of a criminal investigation,” Newsweek reported. The order said she would invoke her Fifth Amendment privilege if compelled to testify, according to Newsweek, which said the filing did not specify what the investigation concerns.

Hutchinson, who testified publicly to the House January 6 Committee in 2022, has faced scrutiny from Republicans over her account that Trump tried to grab the steering wheel of his vehicle on Jan. 6. She told the committee the story came from Anthony Ornato, then a White House deputy chief of staff, according to the hearing transcript. Trump’s driver later denied the steering wheel incident had occurred. 

Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., wrote her a letter in May 2024 demanding her records, noting that she had not mentioned the incident in three earlier transcribed interviews. Which of Hutchinson’s statements are at issue in the grand jury has not been reported.

Roger Stone, the political adviser who was convicted in 2019 of making false statements to Congress and later pardoned by Trump, has been arguing for years that Hutchinson’s testimony about phone calls he allegedly received was false. 

Hutchinson testified before the January 6 Committee that it was her understanding that Trump told his chief of staff Mark Meadows to call Stone and Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser, on the evening of Jan. 5 and that Meadows later joined a briefing with them by phone for a “war room” at the Willard Hotel.

Stone insists that he has never spoken with Meadows by phone, having met him once in 2019 in a Fox News green room, and that Flynn told him he did not speak with Meadows that day either. He further denies any briefing taking place or participating in a meeting at the Willard Hotel.