This article has been updated with a statement from U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Mississippi, the chairman of the House Jan. 6 Committee.
WASHINGTON — An Atlanta attorney who was accused of coaching his client to remain loyal to former President Donald Trump during U.S. House hearings on the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol says newly released documents prove the bipartisan committee misled the public.
Attorney Stefan Passantino represented Cassidy Hutchinson, the White House aide who became the Jan. 6 committee’s star witness. Some of her most viral testimony came when she said Passantino offered her a job and other protections and encouraged her not to cooperate with the investigation.
Passantino in April 2023 filed a lawsuit, accusing the committee of pushing a false narrative and destroying his reputation in the process. He said he was seeking $67 million in damages.
That lawsuit is pending. But documents released by a House Administration Oversight subcommittee last week bolster his case, Passantino said. The subcommittee, led by U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk, has been leading a reinvestigation of the Jan. 6 committee’s work for the past two years.
The latest document dump centers on the actions of then-U.S. Rep Liz Cheney, the Wyoming Republican who served as vice chairwoman of the Jan. 6 committee. Loudermilks’ subcommittee released copies of text messages that showed Cheney communicating with Hutchinson through a third party around the time of her testimony and eventually made direct contact with her.
Some of that communication had already been recounted in Hutchinson’s memoir, released a year ago. However, Passantino told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the new information confirms that Cheney was communicating with his client behind his back.
Loudermilk, a Republican from Cassville, in an interview on Newsmax said the documents showed Cheney knew her actions were potentially unethical or illegal. She ultimately helped Hutchinson find a new lawyer but didn’t stop there, Loudermilk said.
“They tried to destroy Stefan Passantino’s career and his reputation,” Loudermilk said. “They weren’t just good enough firing him. They wanted to destroy him, so they filed bar complaints against him, accusing him of encouraging Cassidy to lie.”
The AJC was unable to reach Cheney. She spent Monday campaigning with Vice President Kamala Harris, whom she has endorsed.
While Passantino and Loudermilk see evidence of possibly unethical and illegal activities, the lawmaker who served as chairman of the Jan. 6 Committee said their criticism is nothing more than a “sad exercise in revisionism.”
“Barry Loudermilk’s so-called investigation of the January 6th Select Committee’s work is an unfortunate and desperate attempt to gaslight the American public about a violent insurrection that threatened the fabric of our democracy,” U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Mississippi, said in a statement to the AJC. “In fact, unsurprisingly, when his subcommittee has released new information, it has actually verified much of the Select Committee’s work.”
Passantino said he hasn’t yet decided whether he will amend his lawsuit or file new action against Cheney or others based on the documents released by the subcommittee.
“I am currently examining what additional remedies may be available to me in light of Chairman Loudermilk’s remarkable investigative work,” he said.
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