DOJ Weighs Perjury and Obstruction Charges Against January 6 Witness Cassidy Hutchinson

Key facts

• Federal prosecutors have been weighing perjury and obstruction-of-justice charges against Cassidy Hutchinson
• Prosecutors are not expected to seek an indictment from a Washington federal grand jury until at least after the midterm elections
• Hutchinson, now 29, was a former aide to ex-Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows
• Prosecutors focused on former special counsel Jack Smith's failure to corroborate much of Hutchinson's account and the Secret Service's denial of a limo altercation
• Former Trump White House counsel Eric Herschmann disputed Hutchinson's claim that she wrote a notecard statement for Trump during the Capitol riot
• The investigation became a priority after a criminal referral by Representative Barry Loudermilk, a Georgia Republican
• House speaker Mike Johnson blocked Loudermilk's separate effort to depose Hutchinson over concerns about damaging texts of a sexual nature
• The referral was assigned to the DOJ's Civil Rights Division, led by Trump loyalist Harmeet Dhillon, rather than the US Attorney for the District of Columbia or the Criminal Division
• Former US attorney Joyce Vance told WIRED prosecutors must show beyond a reasonable doubt that Hutchinson lied knowingly and that it materially impacted the investigation
• Trump fired former US attorney general Pam Bondi in April partly for moving too slowly on cases against his perceived political enemies
• Punchbowl News first reported the Justice Department's interest in charging Hutchinson
• Hutchinson published a memoir titled Enough in 2023