(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson may have breathed a sigh of relief on Tuesday after a Washington, DC, grand jury reportedly declined to return an indictment in connection with alleged false statements she made to Congress.
The DOJ had sought to secure an indictment against Hutchinson, one of the key witnesses in the anti-Trump Jan. 6 select committee, over her disputed testimony that President Donald Trump lunged at a Secret Service agent after attempting to travel to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Hutchinson also claimed she heard that Trump attempted to take control of The Beast and drive to the Capitol.
Her claims, none of which have been corroborated, made headlines and triggered hours of media coverage after then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other anti-Trump lawmakers elevated her role on the anti-Trump committee.
By contrast, the very individuals she identified as the witnesses of her account disputed her claims.
First, Tony Ornato, who was deputy chief of staff at the Trump White House, said the purported altercation never occurred. He made himself available to say so under oath. Bobby Engel, then a Secret Service lead agent assigned to Trump, said that Trump never turned violent or lunged at him when the president expressed his desire to be driven to the Capitol on Jan. 6.
CASSIDY HUTCHINSON: There have always been serious questions about her account/timeline of events.
If there is a criminal indictment, it may call for "disgorgement of profits" from her the sale of her book Enough.
The NEW YORK Times #1 chronicled Hutchinson's account of the… https://t.co/9KbJBZGBe5 pic.twitter.com/naQTDRVKiQ
— Catherine Herridge (@C__Herridge) October 8, 2026
Hutchinson then became the subject of congressional scrutiny, particularly from Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., who released a trove of documents exposing what he has described as several contradictions in the Jan. 6 committee’s findings.
Loudermilk referred Hutchinson to the DOJ for a criminal investigation earlier this year, according to CNN.
The grand jury’s decision not to indict Hutchinson was disclosed by Neville S. Hedley during a hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui, according to The Washington Post.
Although Hedley did not identify Hutchinson by name, anonymous sources told the Post that she was the target of the proposed indictment. Despite the setback, however, the DOJ can still convene another grand jury and seek an indictment against Hutchinson.
Cassidy Hutchinson is a true patriot who came forward to tell Congress and the American people the truth about what she saw and heard on January 6.
Today the Grand Jury sent a loud message to this DOJ—that in America we stand by whistleblowers.https://t.co/fOKjlz6WLA— House Judiciary Dems (@HouseJudiciary) October 27, 2026
