U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan has ruled that former White House attorney Stefan Passantino can sue attorney and MSNBC pundit Andrew Weissmann for lying about Passantino on X.
On Sept. 15, 2023, Weissmann falsely claimed in a post that Passantino had “coached” former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson to lie as a witness to the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.
When combined with the House Administration Committee investigation of the Jan. 6 Committee underway by Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Barry Loudermilk and his staff, the Passantino case guarantees that Americans will learn a lot more about how profoundly flawed the Jan. 6 Committee was – and how much fake news it engineered.
The Jan. 6 Committee was a purely partisan, dishonest, and remarkably destructive operation designed to smear President Donald J. Trump and his supporters. Its members, and especially Vice Chairwoman Liz Cheney, bent the truth, hid facts, and rigged presentations to manufacture the fake stories they wanted.
One of those lies involved Passantino, who is a dear friend of mine.
I have worked with Passantino for 27 years. He is cautious, deeply committed to the law, and impeccably honest. For years, Passantino briefed House Republican members and staff on House rules and ethical behavior. He has also worked with several U.S. Senators. Passantino served as Deputy White House Counsel from President Trump’s inauguration until September 2018. He specialized in ethics issues.
Weissmann’s claim is especially egregious considering Hutchinson herself said Passantino did nothing wrong. She testified: “I want to make this clear [to the Select Committee] Stefan never told me to lie.” She went on to say, “[He] didn’t tell me to lie he told me not to lie.”
When Passantino filed suit against Weissmann (who was formerly a powerful Department of Justice official with a reputation for ruthless aggressiveness) Judge AliKhan had to decide if there was sufficient merit to move forward. Her memorandum and order make clear that there are sufficient grounds to believe Weissmann lied about Passantino in a way that caused Passantino professional and personal costs.
As the Law professor Jonathan Turley wrote this week:
“In making this claim against Passantino, Weissmann actually triggered the ‘per se’ defamation standard twice. These are categories that have been treated as defamatory per se. The allegation against Passantino would not only constitute criminal conduct but also unethical professional conduct. Passantino denounces the statement as an ‘insidious lie’ and ‘smear.’”
Turley concluded that Judge AliKhan’s decision to go forward “could prove embarrassing as Passantino’s team searches for evidence of malice in his emails and other communications.”
I suspect in the next few months, we are going to learn a great deal more about the Jan. 6 Committee’s lies, smears, and distortions – and the innocent people it sought to destroy.
Passantino’s willingness to force this case into the open is a profound act of courage.
For more commentary from Newt Gingrich, visit Gingrich360.com. Also subscribe to the Newt’s World podcast.
