The Department of Justice of the United States is seeking to obtain a federal criminal indictment against Cassidy Hutchinson, former White House advisor, for allegedly lying to Congress during her testimony about the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack, according to reported NBC News this Thursday, citing sources familiar with the process.
A federal grand jury in Washington was convened earlier this week to hear evidence presented by the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, and it is expected to receive additional evidence and new witnesses throughout the remainder of October.
So far, Hutchinson, 29, has not received a subpoena to appear before the grand jury, and there is no formal charge against him.
The journalist Laura Weiss from Punchbowl News was the first to report the news: "The Department of Justice is seeking a federal criminal indictment against former White House advisor Cassidy Hutchinson for charges of lying to Congress in her testimony regarding January 6."
Hutchinson served as an advisor to then-Chief of Staff Mark Meadows during the first term of Donald Trump and became one of the most prominent figures on the House Select Committee investigating the Capitol attack.
Her televised testimony on June 28, 2022, was the most shocking of all the hearings: she testified that Trump had tried to grab the steering wheel of the presidential vehicle known as "The Beast" to head to the Capitol, and that he had thrown his plate of food against the wall in a fit of rage.
Hutchinson clarified that the incident involving the vehicle was conveyed to her by the deputy chief of staff Anthony Ornato, not that she had witnessed it directly.
The driver of the presidential vehicle later stated in a transcribed interview that Trump "never took the wheel" nor "attempted to move to the front seat," and Secret Service agents also refuted that account.
In December 2025, special prosecutor Jack Smith stated before Congress that parts of Hutchinson's testimony were "second or third hand" and that he would not have used her as a reliable witness in his case against Trump.
The path to the current investigation began last March, when Republican representative Barry Loudermilk, backed by the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Jim Jordan, formally referred the case to the Department of Justice accusing Hutchinson of lying under oath.
The Civil Rights Division opened a criminal investigation in April of that year.
A judicial document from September 24 confirmed that Hutchinson was "currently under criminal investigation" and would invoke the Fifth Amendment if compelled to testify under oath in another proceeding.
The political context of the investigation is significant. According to a report from The Atlantic dated October 2, Trump allegedly pressured Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel to produce accusations against his political enemies before the upcoming midterm elections in November, with their jobs at stake if they did not comply.
"The president wants accusations. He wants people in handcuffs. He wants the headlines," said a former official quoted by The Atlantic, adding that Trump demands results "regardless of how weak the evidence is."
The president had publicly called for the prosecution of Hutchinson since at least March 2024, when he wrote on Truth Social: "Will she be prosecuted for what she did and said? [...] Serious crimes have been committed."
It is worth noting that upon returning to the presidency in January 2025, Trump pardoned approximately 1,500 individuals convicted for the Capitol assault, while Biden had granted preventive pardons to members of the January 6th Committee before leaving office, anticipating possible repercussions. Hutchinson was not among those who received such pardons.
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