Trump Lawyer Passantino Needs Georgia Bar Probe, Group Says

The Georgia bar should investigate Donald Trump-allied lawyer Stefan Passantino for allegedly attempting to obstruct the House Jan. 6 probe, an advocacy group said Thursday.

Passantino violated professional ethics rules by advising former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson not to speak truthfully and to provide as little information as possible to the House panel investigating Jan. 6, The 65 Project claims.

The State Bar of Georgia should pursue “appropriate discipline” for efforts to “obstruct a necessary inquiry into an insurrection,” the group said in a letter to the bar.

The 65 Project launched last year to target lawyers they claim abused the court system in an effort to overturn the 2020 election. Democratic consultants such as Hillary Clinton ally David Brock, who founded Media Matters for America, are advising the group.

The 65 Project’s letter draws on closed-door testimony released in December in which Hutchinson claimedthat Passantino urged her to mislead the panel about some of former President Trump’s actions following the 2020 election.

Passantino attorney Ross Garber said in a statement the letter is “frivolous and ill-informed.”

“This letter is not from Ms. Hutchinson or any other client of Mr. Passantino, nor is it from any official agency,” Garber said. “It is a transparent effort to smear a lawyer who has had a 30-year distinguished career.”

Passantino Role

Passantino is a former White House ethics lawyer under Trump who had been advising Hutchinson in his post-administration role as a attorney at the boutique Elections LLC. He also had been serving as a partner at Milwaukee-based law firm Michael Best & Friedrich, whose roster includes former Trump White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus.

Hutchinson later replaced Passantino with lawyers from Alston & Bird. Passantino left Michael Best following the disclosure of Hutchinson’s allegations.

He remains a lawyer at Elections LLC, which he helped launch in 2019 to advise Trump’s 2020 campaign and other Republican candidates.

Elections LLC earned about $2 million from Trump-affiliated political action committees in 2022, according to federal disclosures, including a $1 million payment in May from the Make America Great Again PAC.

The 65 Project

Besides Passantino, The 65 Project’s targets have included John Eastman, the Trump-aligned lawyer who it claims orchestrated efforts that culminated in the Jan. 6 attack, former Foley & Lardner partner Cleta Mitchell and the lawyer Alan Dershowitz.

The group Thursday said it also filed complaints against four attorneys who allegedly helped Arizona Republican governor candidate Kari Lake in her attempts to challenge 2022 election results.

The 65 Project’s Passantino letter went to the State Bar of Georgia’s general counsel, who investigates and prosecutes ethics claims. The Georgia Supreme Court holds ultimate authority over attorney discipline.