One year ago, LDAD filed an ethics complaint against Stefan Passantino, Cassidy Hutchinson’s former attorney, alleging that he failed in multiple respects in his duty to represent Ms. Hutchinson’s interests before her testimony to the January 6 Congressional Committee.
The ethics complaints were recently dismissed (with an exception addressing Passantino’s failure to provide a written fee agreement) by the Georgia and DC bar disciplinary authorities, as Ms. Hutchinson declined to participate in the investigation. Accordingly, they lacked clear and convincing evidence to prove the claims against Passantino. It is important to note that, since her televised testimony, the former president has publicly attacked Hutchinson and suggested she should be prosecuted for her testimony.
LDAD board member Evan Falchuk writes persuasively on three important takeaways from this result. Below is a brief excerpt — and warning — from his writing:
"[W]itness intimidation has become increasingly normalized – and needs to be stopped. Trump and others in his orbit regularly threaten witnesses, prosecutors, lawyers, and others associated with the myriad investigations into the former President. We don't know why Hutchinson decided not to cooperate in these investigations, but we do know that the normalization and acceptance of this kind of conduct is a serious threat to the proper functioning of our system of justice. Laws against this kind of intimidation must be enforced." Click here to continue reading>>
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Lawyers Defending American Democracy
