Republicans in Congress have asked the Justice Department to consider criminal charges against Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, in a move that revives long-running disputes over testimony given during the investigation of the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
The criminal referral, submitted by Rep. Barry Loudermilk of Georgia, accuses Hutchinson of making false statements during her appearance before the House Select Committee that investigated the attack on the Capitol. Loudermilk has been involved in ongoing Republican-led reviews of the events surrounding January 6 and the work of the original select committee.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan co-signed the referral. Republicans contend Hutchinson misled investigators when recounting former President Donald Trump’s awareness of possible violence on January 6 and his actions while continuing to promote claims of election fraud that day, according to CNN.
The Justice Department has not commented on the referral. Representatives for Hutchinson and Loudermilk did not respond to requests for comment.
Criminal referrals from Congress are not charges themselves. They function as recommendations asking federal prosecutors to consider potential violations of law. The Justice Department is not required to open an investigation and may treat such referrals as suggestions tied to broader inquiries.
Hutchinson, now 29, became one of the most prominent witnesses during the select committee’s hearings in the summer of 2022 and Democrats appeared to know that she planned on providing false, or at least exaggerated, testimony. As Meadows’ principal aide during the final months of the Trump administration, she described conversations and events surrounding the president’s activities leading up to the Capitol riot.
Her testimony included secondhand accounts suggesting Trump became frustrated with Secret Service agents who refused to take him to the Capitol while the unrest was unfolding. Hutchinson relayed allegations that the president attempted to grab the steering wheel of the presidential vehicle during the dispute.
Those claims drew scrutiny at the time. A Secret Service agent and another White House official reportedly told investigators they did not recall the steering-wheel incident as Hutchinson described it.
Hutchinson also stated that her original attorney, Stefan Passantino—a former ethics official in the Trump administration—had advised her early in the investigation to limit what she recalled during interviews. She later retained different counsel and provided more extensive testimony.
Passantino has denied any wrongdoing, stating that he represented Hutchinson appropriately and that she was truthful in her initial interactions with investigators. Legal ethics inquiries into his conduct in Washington, D.C., and Georgia were later dropped.
Federal prosecutors during the Biden administration interviewed Hutchinson as part of the Justice Department’s wider investigation into January 6. No charges were filed in connection with her claims regarding Passantino or other related matters.
Her testimony also played a limited role in the prosecution pursued by former Special Counsel Jack Smith against Trump. During a closed-door appearance before the House Judiciary Committee roughly three months ago, Smith said his office had reviewed Hutchinson’s statements but ultimately regarded her as a limited witness.
According to Smith, much of Hutchinson’s information consisted of secondhand accounts that could present evidentiary challenges in court. Other witnesses also offered conflicting descriptions of certain events.
Smith noted that an officer who was present in the vehicle with Trump on January 6 gave an account that differed from the story Hutchinson said she had been told. Investigators also encountered disagreements over other details, including the authorship of a handwritten White House note and descriptions of security screening procedures at Trump’s rally that morning.
He told lawmakers that investigators had not reached firm conclusions about the reliability of every account, noting that the issue was distant from any courtroom proceeding.
The new referral is part of a broader Republican effort to revisit the findings of the original January 6 committee. Lawmakers have argued that earlier investigations overlooked conflicting testimony and failed to fully examine the conduct of certain witnesses.
It follows a separate Republican referral involving former Justice Department prosecutor Thomas Windom, whom lawmakers accused of obstructing congressional oversight. No charges have resulted from that referral.
Whether the Justice Department will pursue the Hutchinson referral remains uncertain. But the move ensures that disputes over witness testimony—and the broader legacy of the January 6 investigation—are likely to remain part of Washington’s political landscape.
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