Hutchinson's decision to testify about Jan. 6 highlights Trump's 'mob boss' tactic of paying witness lawyers

For the first three of Cassidy Hutchinson's interviews with the House Jan. 6 committee, she was represented by Stephen Passantino, a longtime Trump White House lawyer recommended to Hutchinson by two of former President Donald Trump's former aides and paid for by Trump's political action committee, The New York Times reports. Hutchinson, a top Trump White House aide, "was not expected to pay for his services," The Washington Post adds.
"Hutchinson cut ties to Passantino after he suggested that she not testify publicly," the Post reports. After hiring a new lawyer, Jody Hunt, "Hutchinson sat for a fourth interview with the committee in which she divulged more revelations and agreed to come forward publicly to testify to them," leading to this week's explosive hearing, the Times adds. In all, more than a dozen Jan. 6 committee witnesses have had their legal fees paid by Trump's PAC or his allies.
"Trump World was assigning lawyers to a lot of these staffers," including Hutchinson, or at least "covering the costs of lawyers for people who don't have big legal defense funds," former White House communications director Alyssa Farah told CNN Thursday morning. "Cassidy said there's more I want to share with the committee a couple months ago, I put her in touch with Congresswoman [Liz] Cheney, she got a new lawyer, and that's how this testimony came about."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Elie Honig said paying for lawyers is a common mob tactic, and "the No. 1 flag for us as prosecutors this person may be ready to flip, they change out lawyers and go get a lawyer on their own."
"Donald Trump never changes his playbook," former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen tells the Post. "He behaves like a mob boss, and these messages are fashioned in that style."
Cohen himself had "refused for a time to stray from Trump's orbit in part because he thought his legal fees were being covered by the Trump Organization," the Post reports, citing the report by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Cohen pleaded guilty and started cooperating with Mueller after Trump stopped paying his legal bills in 2018, the Times adds.
"There is nothing illegal about a third party covering legal fees for a witness," the Times notes. But it becomes problematic if the person or entity paying the legal bills has a vested interest in the outcome of the testimony, said New York University law professor Stephen Gillers.
"The obvious example is organized crime, where the crime boss tells the lieutenant that, 'Joe, here, is going to be your lawyer,'" Gillers told the Times. "The lawyer's loyalty, of course, is to the boss, not the lieutenant."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
5 tactically sound cartoons about the leaked Signal chat
Cartoons Artists take on the clown signal, baby steps, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Roast lamb shoulder with ginger and fresh turmeric recipe
The Week Recommends Succulent and tender and falls off the bone with ease
By The Week UK Published
-
Adolescence and the toxic online world: what's the solution?
Talking Point The hit Netflix show is a window into the manosphere, red pills and incels
By The Week Staff Published
-
The JFK files: the truth at last?
In The Spotlight More than 64,000 previously classified documents relating the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy have been released by the Trump administration
By The Week Staff Published
-
Why does Donald Trump want Greenland?
The Explainer Trump is not the only US president who has tried to gain control of Greenland
By The Week UK Published
-
What dangers does the leaked Signal chat expose the US to?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION The White House's ballooning group chat scandal offered a masterclass in what not to say when prying eyes might be watching
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Supreme Court upholds 'ghost gun' restrictions
Speed Read Ghost guns can be regulated like other firearms
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump sets 25% tariffs on auto imports
Speed Read The White House says the move will increase domestic manufacturing. But the steep import taxes could also harm the US auto industry.
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump allies urge White House to admit chat blunder
Speed Read Even pro-Trump figures are criticizing The White House's handling of the Signal scandal
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
'Even authoritarian regimes need a measure of public support — the consent of at least some of the governed'
instant opinion 'Opinion, comment and editorials of the day'
By Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, The Week US Published
-
Waltz takes blame for texts amid calls for Hegseth ouster
Speed Read Democrats are calling for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and national security adviser Michael Waltz to step down
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published