Justice Dept. Seeks To Indict Key Jan. 6 Witness For Perjury: Report
Federal prosecutors have presented evidence to a grand jury examining whether former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson knowingly made false statements to Congress about the events of January 6, 2021. No charges have been filed, and the allegations remain unproven.
Hutchinson, now 29, became one of the House committee’s most prominent witnesses after testifying publicly in June 2022 about President Donald Trump’s actions before and during the Capitol attack.
According to WIRED, prosecutors have compared her committee testimony with interview accounts she later provided to investigators working for former Special Counsel Jack Smith. They are reportedly weighing possible perjury and obstruction charges, but do not expect to seek an indictment before the November 3 midterm elections.
A central point of scrutiny is Hutchinson’s account of an exchange she said former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Anthony Ornato described to her. She testified that Trump became furious after learning his Secret Service detail would not take him to the Capitol following his speech near the White House.
In Hutchinson’s secondhand account, Trump reached for the presidential SUV’s steering wheel and lunged toward Secret Service agent Bobby Engel. She did not claim to have witnessed the encounter herself.
The driver of the SUV later disputed key parts of that account, testifying that he did not see Trump reach for or grab the wheel or try to get into the front seat. The Washington Post reported that no other witnesses corroborated Hutchinson’s description of the physical confrontation, although several said Trump was angry or insistent about going to the Capitol.
Trump has repeatedly denied Hutchinson’s account. Republican lawmakers have also challenged her credibility and the January 6 committee’s handling of her testimony. Reps. Barry Loudermilk of Georgia and Jim Jordan of Ohio referred her to the Justice Department earlier this year over allegations that she gave false testimony.
Prosecutors are also reportedly examining a handwritten note prepared during the Capitol riot. Hutchinson testified that she wrote it as then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and then-White House attorney Eric Herschmann dictated language for a statement Trump might release. Herschmann has said he wrote the note.
A Republican-led House investigation later released an analysis by a questioned-document examiner that it said supported Herschmann’s account and contradicted Hutchinson’s claim about authorship. The note dispute is among the issues prosecutors are reportedly reviewing alongside differences between Hutchinson’s various statements.
The investigation has drawn attention to the Justice Department’s decision to assign the matter to its Civil Rights Division, led by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon. WIRED described the assignment as unusual, saying such cases would ordinarily be handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia or the Criminal Division.
That decision may invite questions about the department’s process, but it does not determine whether Hutchinson’s testimony was truthful or whether prosecutors can prove a crime. WIRED reported that some Justice Department officials have questioned whether the evidence supports a viable case.
To secure a perjury conviction, prosecutors would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Hutchinson lied knowingly and that the false statement was material to the congressional investigation, according to a former U.S. attorney quoted by WIRED.
Hutchinson has maintained that her testimony was truthful. Her attorneys have not publicly responded in detail to the latest reports about the grand jury inquiry.
The grand jury’s review is not a verdict, and the reported discrepancies alone do not establish that a crime occurred. The next step rests with prosecutors, who must decide whether the evidence meets the legal threshold for charges.