A Johnson spokesman said the speaker is standing by his chief of staff and “has full faith and confidence” in him.
WASHINGTON — Hayden Haynes, the chief of staff to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and one of the most powerful aides on Capitol Hill, was arrested after President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress on suspicion of drunken driving after his car struck a Capitol vehicle, two law enforcement sources told NBC News. Johnson’s office also confirmed the incident.
One of the sources told NBC News that a police report indicated that Haynes hit a Capitol vehicle around midnight and that he was arrested and released with a citation to appear in court. He was arrested after Trump’s speech Tuesday night, when Johnson presided over the House floor and sat just behind the president’s left shoulder.
“A driver backed into a parked vehicle last night around 11:40 p.m.,” U.S. Capitol Police said in a statement. “We responded and arrested them for DUI.”
Haynes is a trusted and longtime aide to Johnson. He has been chief of staff in the speaker’s office since Johnson won the top job in the House in October 2023. Before that, Haynes was chief of staff to Johnson in his personal office from 2017 to 2023. He also worked in various roles for former Sen. David Vitter, another Louisiana Republican, from 2009 to 2016.
Asked Wednesday by NBC News whether Johnson was standing by Haynes, he said, “I am. I am.”
Johnson spokesperson Taylor Haulsee said in a statement: “The Speaker is aware of the encounter that occurred last night involving his Chief of Staff and the Capitol Police. The Speaker has known and worked closely with Hayden for nearly a decade and trusted him to serve as his Chief of Staff for his entire tenure in Congress. Because of this and Hayden’s esteemed reputation among Members and staff alike, the Speaker has full faith and confidence in Hayden’s ability to lead the Speaker’s office.”
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While most crimes in Washington are prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, DUI offenses are prosecuted by the D.C. Office of the Attorney General, an office headed by D.C. Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb.
The distinction could be meaningful, because the interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, Ed Martin, is a conservative activist with ties to Republicans on Capitol Hill. Martin, whom Trump wants to be the city’s chief federal prosecutor on a permanent basis, was granted access to Capitol Police video from the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, which Martin used to spread conspiracy theories about the attack. Schwalb’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last month, Washington police sent an arrest warrant for Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., but Martin’s office did not sign off on it. Mills had been investigated over allegations of an assault in an apartment building, and he said police had helped “resolve a private matter.”
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