Grand Jury Rejects DOJ Bid to Indict Cassidy Hutchinson

A federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., rejected the Justice Department's attempt to indict Cassidy Hutchinson, a former White House aide who testified about Donald Trump's conduct before the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The decision, reported by multiple news outlets on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, followed an investigation into statements Hutchinson made to congressional investigators.

The Washington Post first reported the grand jury's decision, which CBS News, CNN and CNBC subsequently reported. According to CNBC's account of The Washington Post's reporting, senior Justice Department lawyer Neville Hadley informed Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui in open court Tuesday afternoon that the grand jury had rejected the requested indictment without identifying Hutchinson as its target.

MS NOW reported that prosecutors in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division sought criminal charges based on allegations that Hutchinson had made false statements. Four sources briefed on the grand jury proceedings told CBS News that prosecutors had failed to secure the indictment. The Justice Department had not responded to CBS News' request for comment.

Hutchinson served as a senior aide to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and became a prominent witness for the House committee investigating the Capitol attack. In June 2022, she testified that Trump had been warned that some supporters carried weapons and nevertheless wanted officials to allow more people into the rally area by removing security screening equipment.

During her testimony, Hutchinson recounted a conversation with then-White House deputy chief of staff Tony Ornato about Trump's reaction after Secret Service personnel refused to take him to the Capitol following his speech. She said Ornato described the president as angry over the refusal.

Hutchinson testified that Ornato had described Trump's response to the security decision as follows:

"I'm the effing president, take me up to the Capitol now, according to Ornato." Hutchinson delivered the account to the House committee during its investigation.

She also told lawmakers that Ornato had described a confrontation inside the presidential vehicle, known as The Beast. According to her testimony, Trump tried to reach toward the steering wheel after the head of his security detail, Robert Engel, refused to drive him to the Capitol.

Hutchinson recounted the alleged physical confrontation in her testimony:

"Mr. Engel grabbed his arm, said, 'Sir, you need to take your hand off the steering wheel. We're going back to the West Wing,'" Hutchinson testified.

Her account of Trump's actions inside the vehicle was disputed. The president's driver later gave sworn testimony denying that Trump had attempted to grab the steering wheel, according to CBS News. Ornato and others also disputed aspects of Hutchinson's account.

Hutchinson's testimony further implicated Trump in decisions surrounding the January 6 rally, where he addressed supporters before they moved toward the Capitol as Congress counted electoral votes from the 2020 presidential election. The attack delayed the certification process for hours.

Former special counsel Jack Smith, who investigated the January 6 attack, told members of Congress in a closed-door interview earlier in 2026 that Hutchinson was not a particularly strong witness in his investigation, partly because several accounts she provided were based on information from other people, according to CNN.

The investigation into Hutchinson became a point of disagreement within the Justice Department, CNN reported. Some department officials questioned whether the available evidence could support a viable criminal case and raised concerns that prosecuting her could be viewed as targeting a political opponent of Trump.

Lawmakers from both parties had called for the investigation to be abandoned. Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy characterized the matter as an act of "lawfare" directed by the president, according to CNN.

Reports cited by CBS News indicated that Republican allies of Trump in the House had referred the matter to the Justice Department. Prosecutors' precise concerns about Hutchinson's testimony remained unclear, and the available reports did not establish which specific statements formed the basis of the proposed charges.