Andrew Weissmann, once dubbed the “pitbull” of former special counsel Robert Mueller during the Trump administration is now on the defensive.
Former Trump White House Ethics Lawyer Stefan Passantino is suing the far-left partisan who went from being a DOJ “legal analyst” to becoming an MSNBC legal analyst for libel. The former’s claim revolves around an online post that featured Cassidy Hutchinson, a star witness to the January 6th Committee.
Weissmann claimed in the post that Passantino “coached” Hutchinson into “lying.” Passantino is now retaliating, just a week after the original post.
JUST IN: Trump WH ethics lawyer Stefan Passantino sues former Mueller deputy Andrew Weissmann for libel over this tweet below. Glad @kyledcheney was left out of it! Doc: https://t.co/amN9TnmaGP https://t.co/VeZQ5b7RZH
— Josh Gerstein (@joshgerstein) September 22, 2023
This is the beginning of the complaint.
Stefan Passantino, an attorney who has been representing clients ethically and honorably for 30 years, relies on his reputation in order to make a living. Andrew Weissmann, a former prosecutor who was a top deputy for Special Counsel Robert Mueller and is now a “legal analyst” on MSNBC, has publicly slandered this reputation by claiming that Passantino had coached Cassidy Hutchinson to lie during congressional testimony. This is a sly lie. Mr. Passantino did not coach Ms. Hutchinson in lying, nor did he try to influence her testimony.
Hutchinson previously testified, under oath, that Passantino had never instructed her to lie.
Ms. Hutchinson testified under oath, saying: “I’m here to let you know that Stefan [Passantino] did not tell me to lie. . . The defendant was well aware of the testimony of Mr. Passantino, yet chose to malign him in order to advance his career as a political pundit.
Weissmann is a figure that Republicans have long regarded as sly. Before he led the Russian collusion witch-hunt, Weissmann had a long history of questionable deals within the DOJ. He was accused of misinforming a jury in the Enron case, which led to a conviction overturned by the Supreme Court with a 9-0 decision.
Weissmann was seen by many as the main driver when he joined Mueller’s team. He pushed to indict all those in Trump’s circle, for either process crimes or offenses that are not usually enforced, such as FARA violations. Weissmann’s reputation was confirmed when he joined MSNBC to express his political views. His political leanings were clear at that point.
Passantino’s arguments are not strong. Hutchinson clearly testified that she wasn’t told to lie. This is in direct conflict with Weissmann’s claim. Can Passantino prove he was injured? We’ll see.
It’s still funny to see Weissmann in the opposite corner. He spent most of his career at the DOJ pushing boundaries (and allegedly going beyond them) in order to intimidate others. He will now have to explain in court what he meant by his words.
