‘Looming’ Prosecution of Democrats’ Star January 6 Witness, Cassidy Hutchinson, Emerges as Priority for Pam Bondi’s Successor

The “looming” prosecution of Cassidy Hutchinson — the young White House assistant who delivered stunning testimony about President Trump during a 2022 hearing of the Democrat-controlled House January 6 Committee — may be emerging as a priority for Mr. Trump’s Department of Justice. The New York Times reported this week that Attorney General Pam Bondi, on thin ice with Mr. Trump, “in recent weeks… tried to shore up her position by moving more aggressively against investigative targets singled out by Mr. Trump.” The Times named two targets: former CIA Director John Brennan and Ms. Hutchinson, an assistant to Mark Meadows, the final chief of staff from Mr. Trump’s first term.Mr. Trump, the Times says, citing unnamed officials, has accused Ms. Hutchinson “of lying about his actions” on January 6, 2021. CBS News reports that the prosecution of Ms. Hutchinson is “looming.”Last month a new January 6 Committee — this one controlled by Republicans — formally submitted to the Justice Department a criminal referral of Ms. Hutchinson for perjury. Ms. Cassidy’s detractors alleged that she lied to Congress in 2022 when she testified that Mr. Trump was aware of the potential for violence on January 6, 2021 and persisted in rallying supporters.Special Counsel Jack Smith, who sought in vain to convict Mr. Trump for election interference, was asked about Ms. Hutchinson’s account during his public testimony in January. He responded that she “certainly” wouldn’t have made a “powerful” witness because she couldn’t provide “firsthand” testimony. He added that “My recollection with Ms. Hutchinson, at least one of the issues was that a number of the things that she gave evidence on were secondhand hearsay, were things that she had heard from other people.”Ms. Hutchinson was a 24-year-old special assistant to the President and coordinator for legislative affairs at the time of the riot at the Capitol and her workspace was down the hall from the Oval Office. Ms. Hutchinson testified that when White House Counsel Pat Cipollone heard of Mr. Trump’s plan to march to the Capitol on January 6, he reflected that “We’re going to get charged with every crime imaginable if we make that movement happen.”Ms. Hutchinson also chronicled Mr. Trump’s reaction in December of 2020 when Attorney General William Barr told him that he had not uncovered evidence of election fraud. Mr. Trump, she related, “flipped the tablecloth to let all the contents of the table go onto the floor and likely break or go everywhere.” He also threw his plate against the wall of the White House dining room, causing ketchup to ooze down the wall. Perhaps Ms. Hutchinson’s most extraordinary account to the January 6 Committee concerned Mr. Trump’s alleged behavior on the day of the riot. She said that another staffer told her that when Mr. Trump got into the presidential limousine — codenamed “The Beast” — after the rally at the ellipse, he demanded to be taken to the Capitol. When his Secret Service detail reckoned that it was too dangerous, Mr. Trump “lunged” at the steering wheel.In March of 2024, though, House Republicans released a transcript of testimony from Mr. Trump’s driver on that day who asserted that the president “never grabbed the steering wheel. I didn’t see him, you know, lunge to try to get into the front seat at all.” The driver reflected that “The president was insistent on going to the Capitol” and “What stood out was the irritation in his voice, more than his physical presence.” Ms Hutchinson published a memoir, “Enough,” in 2023, which became a New York Times bestseller. The House January 6 Committee that heard Ms. Hutchinson’s testimony was led by Congressman Bennie Thompson and Congresswoman Liz Cheney. It interviewed more than a thousand people. Ultimately, the committee issued criminal referrals for Mr. Trump and the legal adviser John Eastman. Some eight months later, Mr. Smith charged Mr. Trump. Mr. Eastman was listed as an unindicted co-conspirator, and like Mr. Trump faced criminal charges in Georgia that were ultimately dismissed.Republicans claim that Ms. Cheney and Ms. Hutchinson were inappropriately in touch in the runup to the latter’s testimony. Ms. Cheney lost her Republican primary to a candidate endorsed by Mr. Trump, and subsequently endorsed the Democrat, Vice President Harris, for president. President Biden awarded her both the second highest civilian award, the Presidential Citizens Medal, and a sweeping pardon from presidential prosecution. The Times reports this week that not only Ms. Bondi but also her former deputy – and now the acting attorney general – Todd Blanche, “pushed prosecutors to investigate a former White House aide, Cassidy Hutchinson, whom the president has accused of lying about his actions on Jan. 6, 2021.” Ms. Bondi’s termination was allegedly driven by both her handling of the Epstein Files as well as her failure to secure convictions — or even trials — for Mr. Trump’s adversaries.Any prosecution of Ms. Hutchinson for lying to Congress would likely resemble the case against the fired FBI director, James Comey, who the DOJ alleged lied when he spoke to lawmakers in 2020 about the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. That case was thrown out because the prosecutor in charge, Lindsey Halligan, was disqualified as unlawfully appointed.

‘Looming’ Prosecution of Democrats’ Star January 6 Witness, Cassidy Hutchinson, Emerges as Priority for Pam Bondi’s Successor

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