Cassidy Hutchinson indictment effort rejected by Washington grand jury, reports say

A Washington federal grand jury rejected the Justice Department’s effort to obtain a Cassidy Hutchinson indictment on Oct. 27, according to NBC News, CNN and the Associated Press. No indictment resulted from the reported proceeding, which concerned statements Hutchinson made about President Donald Trump’s actions on Jan. 6, 2021, the outlets reported.

The accounts rely on unnamed officials or people familiar with the matter. NBC News reported that a senior U.S. official confirmed the case involved Hutchinson, while CNN said people familiar with the matter identified her after a prosecutor did not name a defendant in court. The Justice Department and Hutchinson’s lawyers did not immediately comment, according to NBC and CNN.

What does the grand jury’s decision mean for Cassidy Hutchinson?

NBC News described the outcome as a “no bill,” and CNN reported that a Justice Department lawyer told a judge the panel had submitted a “non-concurrence.” In each account, the term meant the grand jury declined the indictment prosecutors sought.

The reported decision does not prevent the Justice Department from seeking charges against Hutchinson again, NBC News said. The Associated Press reported that the specific allegations prosecutors intended to present were not immediately clear. The reports do not identify a particular proposed criminal count or provide a charging document.

Hutchinson served as an aide to Mark Meadows, Trump’s White House chief of staff during his first term. She became a prominent witness before the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, giving public testimony in 2022 about Trump’s conduct before and during the assault.

Her testimony included an account, relayed to her by a White House security official, of an episode in which Trump allegedly sought to have his vehicle taken to the Capitol after his speech. Hutchinson acknowledged she had not witnessed that episode herself, the AP reported. A transcript released by House Republicans in 2024 from the Secret Service officer who drove the vehicle conflicted with some elements of her account, according to the AP, although the report said it supported Trump’s desire to go to the Capitol. CNN reported that Tony Ornato and others denied the account.

Republican lawmakers have accused Hutchinson of lying under oath, according to the AP and NBC News. Trump has also criticised her testimony and urged that she be prosecuted, NBC News reported. Those accusations and Trump’s comments are distinct from the reported grand-jury outcome, which did not produce an indictment.

The investigation reportedly centred on Hutchinson’s testimony to the House Jan. 6 committee. The committee has since been disbanded, NBC News reported.

This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.