As a rule, when members of Congress refer someone to the Justice Department for prosecution, it sounds dramatic, but there is no guarantee that prosecutors will take the referral seriously. The DOJ might appreciate a heads up from lawmakers about suspected wrongdoing, but it’s just as likely to ignore the recommendations.
It was just last month when the House Republicans’ Jan. 6 committee, which is intended to serve as a conservative counterweight to the actual, bipartisan Jan. 6 select committee that wrapped up its historic work in 2022, asked Main Justice to go after Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.
According to the partisan panel led by Republican Rep. Barry Loudermilk of Georgia, Hutchinson lied to Congress about Donald Trump’s awareness for violence ahead of the insurrectionist riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
Under normal circumstances, the DOJ would blow off a criminal referral like this, recognizing it as more of a political stunt than a serious recommendation. However, note this detail that featured in a report The New York Times published Thursday on the DOJ’s efforts to please the president by pursuing his political foes:
[Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche] have gotten the president’s message. They have stepped up efforts to investigate several other Trump targets. … They have also 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, according to two officials briefed on the effort.
While MS NOW hasn’t independently verified this reporting, it dovetails with everything we’ve seen and learned about the White House’s control of federal law enforcement. It also serves as a timely reminder that Hutchinson remains a Team Trump target — to the point that the most powerful officials at Main Justice have reportedly pushed prosecutors in private to pursue her.
What’s more, during a recent congressional hearing with former special counsel Jack Smith, GOP members pressed the prosecutor with questions about Hutchinson, reinforcing the perception that she’s a key party target. (Smith made it clear that Hutchinson’s testimony played little to no role in his decision to bring criminal charges against Trump.) Relatedly, Kash Patel, prior to the podcast personality becoming the FBI director, included Hutchinson on his notorious “government gangsters” enemies list.
Based on the publicly available information, there’s no reason to believe Hutchinson, who delivered stunning Jan. 6 testimony nearly four years ago, did anything wrong. But the president himself recently used his social media platform to talk about Hutchinson; he clearly controls the DOJ; and the Republican administration remains determined to punish Trump’s perceived political foes. Watch this space.
This post updates our related earlier coverage.
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