Key facts
- Prosecutors are seeking criminal charges against Cassidy Hutchinson.
- Hutchinson is a former top aide to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
- The potential charges involve lying to Congress.
- Hutchinson testified that Trump did not want to return to the White House on January 6.
- Hutchinson also testified that Trump grabbed the wheel of his SUV on January 6.
- Republicans have disputed Hutchinson's account.
Prosecutors in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division are seeking criminal charges against Cassidy Hutchinson, a former top aide to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, according to a person familiar with the matter. The potential charges involve lying to Congress, the person said. Hutchinson provided explosive testimony to the committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol. She told the panel that the deputy chief of staff for operations informed her that Trump did not want to return to the White House on January 6 and at one point grabbed the wheel of his SUV in an attempt to join his supporters at the Capitol. Republicans have disputed this account. The Justice Department’s efforts to indict Hutchinson were first reported by Punchbowl News on Thursday. A department spokesperson stated that the department does not confirm or deny the existence of investigations. In April, The New York Times reported that prosecutors in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division had been assigned to investigate Hutchinson, a move seen as unusual as such investigations are typically handled by the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. Hutchinson had also stated in filings for an unrelated case that she was under investigation by the Justice Department.