Grand jury won’t indict former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson for riot testimony
Prosecutors wanted to indict Hutchinson for testimony she provided about Trump’s behavior during the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot
- •A grand jury has cleared Cassidy Hutchinson of any wrongdoing in her testimony about the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
- •Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony implicated President Trump in the planning and execution of the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
- •The decision not to indict Hutchinson suggests that the Department of Justice may not pursue charges against Trump or his associates for their roles in the riot.
A grand jury declined to indict Cassidy Hutchinson, the former White House aide known for her testimony about the role President Donald Trump played in the January 6, 2021, US Capitol riot, CNN and The Washington Post reported.
Hutchinson was targeted by the Department of Justice over her testimony before Congress in 2022, the news outlets reported, citing unnamed sources. The former Trump White House aide testified that the president knew there was an armed mob at his "Stop the Steal" rally on Jan. 6, 2021, and that Trump directed that armed mob to the U.S. Capitol, USA TODAY previously reported.
USA TODAY has reached out to the White House and DOJ for comment. Hutchinson could not be immediately reached for comment.
Hutchinson was a top-level former Trump staffer who testified as the star witness in congressional hearings about the 2021 riot that shook the nation. She was in the room with Trump and his chief of staff Mark Meadows during the most perilous moments leading up to and during the insurrection.
Here are the highlights of her testimony:
Lunging at Secret Service: She described a former president so unhinged in his final days in office that he assaulted a Secret Service agent in his attempt to grab the steering wheel and join that mob at the Capitol. Trump also threw a porcelain plate on the wall after learning his former Attorney General Bill Barr said there wasn't widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election, according to Hutchinson's testimony.
Trump knew of threat of violence: Hutchinson testified that Trump and his top deputies knew Jan. 6, 2021, could get violent and proceeded anyway with their plan to stay in power.
Hutchinson was 'scared and nervous': She expressed worry about what could happen on Jan. 6 after a conversation four days earlier with Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal lawyer. She said Giuliani asked her on Jan. 2, 2021, whether she was "excited" for Jan. 6. "It's going to be a great day," Giuliani said, according to Hutchinson's testimony.
She was in the room: The former Trump aide previously worked for top congressional Republicans before moving with Meadows to the White House, where she handled "a vast number of sensitive issues," according to committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney, a Republican House member from Wyoming. Her role gave her a close-up view of the events at the White House on Jan. 6.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Grand jury won't indict former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson for riot testimony
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