Why a grand jury rejected charges against Cassidy Hutchinson

A federal grand jury in Washington declined to indict former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, rejecting a Justice Department effort to bring criminal charges over statements she made about President Donald Trump's actions on Jan. 6, 2021. A senior U.S. official confirmed the no bill was the Hutchinson case, according to NBC News. Her name was not read aloud in the courtroom when the decision was announced.

The case centered on Hutchinson's 2022 testimony before the now-defunct Democratic-led House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack. She testified on June 28, 2022, during the panel's sixth hearing. Prosecutors were pursuing charges over her account of Trump's actions that day.

The referral originated on Capitol Hill. GOP Rep. Barry Loudermilk accused Hutchinson of lying to Congress in her summer 2022 testimony when she said Trump was aware of the potential for violence on Jan. 6, 2021. House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan co-signed the referral. The case was then brought by officials in the Civil Rights Division, which is headed by a Trump appointee.

A no bill is a rare public defeat for federal prosecutors. It undercuts the premise that Hutchinson's testimony was criminally false — the theory Loudermilk's referral rested on. It also highlights the unusual posture of a department pursuing charges against a witness whose account was central to the congressional investigation of Jan. 6, and the political pressure from Capitol Hill that preceded the effort.

The failure is the latest in a string of such denials in cases the Justice Department has brought against people Trump has portrayed as his political enemies.

What is clear is the outcome: the department tried, and the grand jury said no.