Washington-Hayden Haynes, the chief of staff of the president of the Mike Johnson Chamber, R-La., And one of the most powerful aid of Capitol Hill, was arrested after the spouse of President Donald Trump at the conference for driving in a state of drunkenness after his car hit a vehicle of the Capitol, said two sources of application of the law. Johnson’s office also confirmed the incident.
One of the sources told NBC News that a police report said Haynes had hit a Capitol vehicle around midnight and had been arrested and released with a quote to appear in court. The arrest came after Trump’s speech on Tuesday evening, when Johnson presided over the house’s floor and sat right behind the president’s left shoulder.
“A driver fell into a vehicle parked last night around 11:40 pm,” the American Capitol police said in a statement at NBC News. “We answered and arrested for Dui.”
Haynes is a trusted and long -standing assistant in Johnson. He was a chief of staff in the speaker’s office since Johnson won the first job in the Chamber in October 2023. Before Haynes was a chief of staff to Johnson in his personal office from 2017 to 2023. He also held various positions for former senator David Vitter, another Republican from Louisiana, from 2009 to 2016.
Asked by NBC News on Wednesday if Johnson was standing near Haynes, he said: “I am. I am.”
“The speaker is aware of the meeting that occurred last night involving his chief of staff and the Capitol police,” added Johnson News. Because of this and the estimated reputation of Hayden among the members and the staff, the speaker has all the faith and the confidence in Hayden’s ability to direct the speaker’s office. »»
While most of Washington’s crimes are prosecuted by the American prosecutor’s office for the District of Columbia, the offenses in Dui are continued by the DC office of the Attorney General, an office led by the DC prosecutor, Brian L. Schwalb.
The distinction could be significant because the American acting prosecutor of the District of Columbia Ed Martin is a conservative activist linked to the Republicans of Capitol Hill. Martin, that Trump wants to be the main federal prosecutor of the city on a permanent basis, had access to the images of the Capitol police of January 6, which Martin used to spread the theories of the conspiracy on the attack of the Capitol. The Schwalb office did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
Last month, the Washington Metropolitan Police Department sent an arrest warrant against representative Cory Mills, R-Fla., But Martin’s office did not sign. Mills had been investigated for an alleged assault in an apartments building, and Mills said the police had “resolved a private case”.
