The DOJ's latest attempt to appease Dear Leader by prosecuting his enemies has blown in in their faces. So much for that saying about indicting a ham sandwich.
Justice Department prosecutors on Tuesday tried and failed to secure a grand jury indictment of former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson over her testimony about President Donald Trump’s role in the January 6, 2021, US Capitol riot, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Hutchison was a key witness for the special House committee investigating the riot. Her explosive 2022 testimony implicated Trump, saying he was aware of the potential for violence that day, but still chose to move ahead with a speech urging his supporters to march to the Capitol.
Attorneys for Hutchinson didn’t respond to requests for comment.
In a brief court appearance Tuesday, a Justice Department attorney told a judge the grand jury submitted a “non-concurrence,” meaning the panel rejected the indictment the DOJ sought.
The prosecutor did not reference a defendant by name, but sources familiar with the matter confirmed he was referencing Hutchinson.
The long-running case is yet another attempt to target one of the president’s perceived political enemies. Republicans and allies of the president have repeatedly said they believe Hutchinson should be charged with perjury over her testimony, which drew the ire of Trump.
More from Josh Marshall on the implications:
Obviously it’s good that illegitimate attempt failed since Hutchinson is guilty of nothing more than acting honorably. It’s embarrassing for the administration since it’s hard to fail at the grand jury level where the government is literally in charge of everything. But there’s something deeper and more important here: the un-strategic, increasingly impulsive and ultimately self-defeating nature of the Trump legal retribution campaign.
It’s true that the White House squeezes money and well-being from the targets of its campaign even when it doesn’t secure convictions. But when the failures are so consistent and so abject they have the effect of advertising both the president’s abuses of power and his weakness. Successfully abusing your power is a display of dominance which spreads fear. These clumsy and grasping failures more so generate anger and contempt. A shrewder would-be autocrat wouldn’t have made himself so deeply unpopular, in such foreseeable ways while he was trying to impose an Orban-style autocracy. Even at this late date, one with any foresight or self-control would drop these antics and focus other kinds of wrongdoing. But Trump simply can’t. We don’t diminish the gravity of Trump’s wrongdoing by noting that he is failing in this effort.
The fact that they're completely inept might be the only thing that saves us.
