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A lawsuit filed by a former attorney for January 6 witness Cassidy Hutchinson appears to undermine claims she publicly made during her testimony before the Democrat-controlled committee.
According to Just the News, the suit also cites text messages indicating “that she 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 lawsuit against Andrew Weissmann, currently an MSNBC legal analyst, former prosecutor, and deputy to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, 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 the former aide to Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, initially acknowledged her reluctance to cooperate with the committee, despite Passantino’s encouragement for her to do so, Just the News reported.
“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.
The J6 committee, which was hand-selected by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi and included Trump opponent and then-Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming) portrayed Hutchinson as a willing participant.
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.
Just the News added that the outlet “reported this week that Hutchinson significantly amended her original February 2022 recounting of events before the committee, through both follow-up interviews and an errata sheet submitted to the committee in September of 2022 and cited pressure from Passantino as the main motivation for withholding information.”
“Before retaining my new lawyers, at times I had told less than the whole truth to a congressional committee charged with investigating a matter of the highest national importance, a matter that posed a threat to America’s future greatness,” Hutchinson wrote in her memoir,” “Enough.” “I had withheld information about events that I had witnessed or that had been recounted to me by witnesses.”
During a follow-up interview with the January 6 committee in September 2022, after securing a new legal team, Hutchinson elaborated on how she alleged that Passantino had pressured her.
“You’re not lying if you say you don’t recall,” she claimed Passantino said as she prepped for her first interview with the J6 committee.
“Everything’s going to be OK. We’re taking care of you,” Passantino said allegedly, according to Hutchinson. “Just downplay your position … It’s not fair that Mark [Meadows] put you in this position. We just want to focus on protecting the president. We all know you’re loyal. Let’s just get you in and out, and this day will be easy, I promise.”
