The American Capitol police said that President Mike Johnson’s chief of staff was arrested for driving in a state of drunkenness on Tuesday evening after the higher assistant supported his car in a Capitol Génée police vehicle.
The arrest came shortly after President Trump, with Mr. Johnson presiding over him, finished pronouncing his first address to a joint session of the Congress since his return to the post.
“A driver fell into a vehicle parked last night around 11:40 pm,” said a spokesperson for the Capitol police in a statement. “We answered and arrested for dui”
Johnson’s office confirmed on Wednesday that Hayden Haynes, the chief of staff to the president, was involved in a “meeting” with the Capitol police on Tuesday evening, publishing a statement indicating that he would continue to hold his powerful post.
“The president has known and worked closely with Hayden for almost a decade and trusted him to serve as a chief of staff for the entirety of his mandate in the congress,” said Taylor Haulsee, Mr. Johnson’s spokesman, in a statement on the arrest, which was reported earlier by NBC News. “Because of this and the estimated reputation of Hayden among members and staff, the speaker has all the faith and the confidence in Hayden’s ability to direct the speaker’s office.”
Mr. Haynes was released with a quote rather than taken in prison, and would have a hearing date “in the coming weeks”, according to the Capitol police. Given that drunkenness cases in Washington, DC, are continued by the District Attorney General rather than by the Office of the American District Prosecutor under the Ministry of Justice, the Trump administration would have no apparent role in the case.
