Grand jury declines to indict ex-Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson over Jan. 6 testimony (update, Oct. 27, 2026)

Case

On Oct. 27, 2026, a Washington grand jury declined to indict Cassidy Hutchinson, a former Trump White House aide and Jan. 6 committee witness, after the Justice Department sought charges that she lied to Congress, according to anonymous sources cited by AP and ABC News. The attempt came roughly three weeks after reports that DOJ had opened a probe of her testimony about Trump's actions on Jan. 6, and a week before the midterms. The DOJ has not commented in the reports reviewed.

What happened (Oct. 27, 2026)
On Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, a Washington grand jury declined to indict former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke to AP anonymously.
ABC News, citing sources, reported that the Justice Department had sought charges that Hutchinson lied to Congress about her testimony to the House Jan. 6 committee. AP's report did not name the charge or statute.
Hutchinson, a top aide to then-chief of staff Mark Meadows, testified at the committee's sixth hearing on June 28, 2022.
Hutchinson declined to comment through her lawyer. Neither AP's nor ABC's report included a Justice Department or White House statement.
AP noted that grand juries rarely decline to indict, and that a Washington grand jury earlier in 2026 refused to indict Democratic lawmakers over a video urging service members to reject unlawful orders.

Background
On Oct. 8, 2026, Punchbowl News reported, and WSET relayed, that DOJ had opened a probe into alleged false statements to Congress about Trump's actions on Jan. 6, 2021; Hutchinson had not then received a subpoena. The article carried no official DOJ confirmation.
In 2022 Hutchinson testified that Trump reached for the steering wheel of his vehicle on Jan. 6; she acknowledged this account was secondhand. A March 2024 transcript of the Secret Service driver contradicted the steering-wheel account but supported her claim that Trump tried to go to the Capitol.
Republican lawmakers had accused Hutchinson of lying under oath in her 2022 testimony. AP frames the case as part of a pre-midterm Justice Department push against perceived Trump adversaries, alongside the renewed Comey prosecution and the search of Rep. Ilhan Omar's home.

Perspectives

Defender — Republican lawmakers and Trump allies, as characterized by AP
Republican lawmakers have accused Hutchinson of lying under oath in her 2022 testimony about Trump's conduct on Jan. 6, and on that view a false-statements inquiry is ordinary law enforcement, not retaliation. Her steering-wheel account was secondhand, as she acknowledged, and the Secret Service driver's transcript contradicted it. No Justice Department or White House statement on the grand jury outcome was found in the reports reviewed.

Critic — Critics of the Justice Department's recent actions, as framed by AP
AP places the effort within a pre-election Justice Department pattern of targeting Trump's perceived adversaries, and notes grand juries rarely refuse to indict. Hutchinson's lawyer declined comment. The grand jury's reasoning is not public, so the outcome alone does not establish why charges were rejected.

Note
DOJ has not publicly explained the case; Republican lawmakers accuse Hutchinson of lying under oath, while she has defended her account (her lawyer declined comment to AP).

Sources
[1] AP via WRAL — Grand jury refuses to indict former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, AP sources say (https://www.wral.com/news/ap/65b19-grand-jury-refuses-to-indict-ex-white-house-aide-cassidy-hutchinson-ap-sources-say/) · 2026-10-27
[2] ABC News — DOJ fails to get indictment against former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson: Sources (https://abcnews.com/US/doj-fails-indictment-trump-aide-cassidy-hutchinson-jan/story?id=137619918) · 2026-10-27
[3] WSET — DOJ launches an investigation into former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson (https://wset.com/news/nation-world/doj-launches-an-investigation-into-former-trump-aide-cassidy-hutchinson-joe-biden-jan-6-wyoming-liz-cheney) · 2026-10-08

Connections

Same context — DOJ files third set of charges against James Comey over a 2016 New York Times story (update, Oct. 26, 2026)
AP reports both as part of the Justice Department's pre-midterm push against perceived Trump adversaries.

Same context — Federal prosecutions and investigations of Trump critics and opponents since 2025: Comey, James, Bolton, Brennan, Schiff, Cook, Lucas and others (status as of Oct. 25, 2026)
New development: DOJ's failed attempt to indict a Jan. 6 committee witness, part of the broader set of prosecutions and investigations of Trump critics.

Related — Senior Justice Department departures after the midterms: Dhillon, Eisenberg, Reding Quiñones and Whitaker (Nov. 5-6, 2026)
Hutchinson was reportedly a target of the Southern District of Florida grand conspiracy probe led by Reding Quiñones's office.