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The attorney who initially represented former Mark Meadows aide Cassidy Hutchinson before the Jan. 6 Select Committee has submitted a motion to the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Georgia, requesting a default judgment in his lawsuit against the government.
In December, Stefan Passantino filed a lawsuit against the government, alleging that the House Democrat-led Jan. 6 investigation infringed upon his rights to due process and damaged his reputation by uncritically echoing Hutchinson’s assertions regarding his legal representation of her, Just the News reported Friday.
The government missed the deadline to respond to the complaint by April 15. Instead, it sought an extension on the final day, which was denied. According to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a defendant who neglects to reply to a lawsuit could face a default judgment based on the pleadings submitted by Passantino.
“As of the time of this filing, the United States of America has not answered or otherwise responded to the Complaint and thus it is in default,” their filing read, according to court documents reviewed by the outlet.
In its December 2022 final report, the Jan. 6 Select Committee accused Passantino of coaching or pressuring Cassidy Hutchinson before her testimony, urging her to remain loyal to Trump—an allegation he vehemently denies. This was cited as a reason for the significant change in her initial testimony regarding the events of that day.
Last month, both the Georgia and Washington, D.C. Bars cleared Passantino of any wrongdoing after complaints were lodged against him regarding his representation of Hutchinson. Neither Bar identified any significant ethics violations, Just the News added.
Separately, Passantino’s lawsuit against Andrew Weissmann, currently an MSNBC legal analyst, former prosecutor, and deputy to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, cites text messages indicating “that [Hutchinson] initially did not want to comply with the January 6 committee’s investigation and appeared to prepare to leak information about the committee’s proceedings to the media independently of her lawyer.”
These texts originate from just before her initial closed-door interview with the special committee investigating the January 6 riot. They precede her revision of the account of events that occurred after parting ways with her first lawyer, Stefan Passantino. She claimed that Passantino had exerted pressure on her to remain “loyal” to former President Donald Trump.
The texts were added as evidence to Passantino’s suit against Weissman, alleging that he “publicly impugned [Passantino’s reputation], claiming that Mr. Passantino coached his client, Cassidy Hutchinson, to lie in congressional testimony.”
“This is an insidious lie,” the lawsuit claims. “Mr. Passantino never coached Ms. Hutchinson to lie, nor did he attempt to shape her testimony in any way.”
Texts purportedly from Hutchinson also appear to indicate that she initially acknowledged her reluctance to cooperate with the committee, despite Passantino’s encouragement for her to do so, Just the News reported in December.
“Like how on earth are they doing this to you,” one unidentified person asked the former Trump White House aide.
“I don’t know. But I don’t want to comply. Stefan wants me to comply,” Hutchinson replied.
In a different exchange, Hutchinson seems to convey skepticism about Passantino’s media strategy regarding her deposition. She suggests that she might independently leak information to the media, separate from her lawyer, to ensure that her “narrative” is seen first.
“So I want to. Stefan wants to wait till after my depo. I have to go in person next Tuesday. He doesn’t think the committee will leak it (“they promised they won’t”) but I don’t trust them,” Hutchinson said to an unknown individual. “And I want it to be my/our narrative that’s out there first,” she added.
In a separate text to an unidentified recipient seeking information about potential funding for her legal representation, Hutchinson brushed off the committee’s inquiry as ridiculous.
“I’m on a high timeline and just trying to figure out what my options are to deal with this bs,” Hutchinson said.