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Grand jury declines to indict Cassidy Hutchinson over testimony about Trump's actions on Jan 6

Grand jury declines to indict Cassidy Hutchinson over testimony about Trump's actions on Jan 6

The Department of Justice has failed to secure a grand jury indictment against former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson over her testimony regarding Donald Trump's role in the riot at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. 

Hutchinson, 29, famously implicated Trump in her testimony before investigators on the House January 6 Committee. 

She testified in 2022 that Trump appeared unconcerned about reports that some of his supporters were armed, allegedly saying that they were 'not here to hurt me,' and 'lunged' at the Secret Service agent driving his limo away from the Capitol.

That probe has proved unsuccessful in producing an indictment, CNN reported Tuesday night. 

Sources told MS Now the DOJ tried to charge Hutchinson with having made false statements. 

The Justice Department opened a federal criminal investigation into Hutchinson earlier this year, as the Daily Mail previously reported - a probe initiated by then-Attorney General Pam Bondi just weeks before she departed the agency.

Bondi was dismissed last week partly because she failed to secure convictions against the President's political foes - and the probe into the former White House aide was launched as she scrambled to shore up his support.

Prosecutors for DOJ's Civil Rights Division, led by Trump ally Harmeet Dhillon, were overseeing the case, and began presenting evidence to a federal grand jury earlier in October. 

The Department of Justice has failed to secure a grand jury indictment against former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson (pictured) over her testimony regarding Donald Trump's role in the riot at the Capitol on January 6, 2021

Hutchinson, 29, famously implicated Trump in her testimony before investigators on the House January 6 Committee

The Daily Mail has reached out to the White House and the Department of Justice for comment. 

Hutchinson acknowledged she is the target of a federal criminal investigation late last month. 

She said last month that she plans to invoke her Fifth Amendment right if she is compelled to testify.   

That DOJ's Civil Rights Division was handling the case is notable, and comes as the division - which traditionally focused on race, sex, age, religion and other forms of illegal discrimination - has largely overhauled its mission during Trump's second presidential term, and under Dhillion's leadership.

Attorney General Todd Blanche also signaled willingness to continue with the probe, telling reporters earlier this year that Trump had 'the right' and 'the duty' to call for investigations into individuals who have broken the law. 

Congressman Barry Loudermilk, who chairs the House Republicans' still-active January 6 Committee, sent DOJ a criminal referral in March urging it to investigate Hutchinson.

Loudermilk has accused Hutchinson, who previously served as an aide to Trump's first-term White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, of lying to Congress in the testimony. 

Hutchinson alleged that Trump knew about the potential violence January 6 protesters could unleash, but urged them on to the US Capitol regardless. 

Rioters clash with police using big ladder trying to enter Capitol building through the front doors on January 6

Prosecutors for DOJ's Civil Rights Division, led by Trump ally Harmeet Dhillon (pictured), were overseeing the case, and began presenting evidence to a federal grand jury earlier in October

She also stated that she'd heard, secondhand, that an 'irate' Trump lunged at a Secret Service agent after his presidential limo was driven away from the US Capitol, against his wishes, and said he 'reached up towards the front of the vehicle to grab at the steering wheel.' 

When the agent rebuffed him, she said, Trump lunged at the agent himself.

Trump at the time denied much of what Hutchinson said on his social media platform, Truth Social. He called her a 'total phony' and 'bad news.' 

Hutchinson has alleged that members of Trump´s inner circle dangled job opportunities and financial assistance while she was cooperating with the committee. 

She also testified that her own lawyer - a former ethics counsel in the Trump White House - told her 'the less you remember, the better.'

'It feels ridiculous, because in my heart I knew where my loyalties lied, and my loyalties lied with the truth,' she told the committee. 'And I never wanted to diverge from that.'

The House of Representatives impeached Trump in 2021 on allegations that he incited the mob that attacked the Capitol, but he was later acquitted by the Senate. 

The Justice Department under Biden charged Trump with felony offenses, accusing him of illegally working to overturn his 2020 election loss in the run-up to the Capitol attack, but then-special counsel Jack Smith abandoned the case after Trump´s 2024 presidential victory. 

Longstanding Justice Department policy says sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution.

Hutchinson, a native of Pennington, New Jersey, previously worked in the White House Office of Legislative Affairs and interned for Republicans, including Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.

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