{"id":5278,"date":"2023-03-16T09:00:33","date_gmt":"2023-03-16T14:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/compliance\/?p=5278"},"modified":"2023-03-16T09:00:33","modified_gmt":"2023-03-16T14:00:33","slug":"capitol-attack-aftermath-the-65-project-files-complaint-against-trump-aligned-attorney","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/compliance\/?p=5278","title":{"rendered":"Capitol Attack Aftermath: The 65 Project files Complaint Against Trump-Aligned Attorney"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jake Parentis<\/em><\/p>\n

Associate Editor<\/em><\/p>\n

Loyola University Chicago School of Law, JD 2024<\/em><\/p>\n

Monday, March 6, 2023, marks two-and-one-quarter years since the notorious attack on the U.S. Capitol. Since then, the unprecedented insurrection\u2019s aftermath has thrust Trump-aligned supporters and politicians into the political limelight. As the House of Representatives continues its comprehensive investigation, Cassidy Hutchinson, former White House aide and standout witness of the House\u2019s Jan. 6th committee investigation, recently accused<\/a> President Trump\u2019s former White House attorney Stefan Passantino of unethical legal maneuvering. On Wednesday February 15, 2023, nearly three months after her allegations were brought, bipartisan U.S. legal advocacy group \u2018The 65 Project\u2019<\/a> filed an informal ethics complaint<\/a> against Passantino.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cThe less you remember, the better.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Passantino represented Hutchinson during the early stages of the investigation. Hutchinson claims that Passantino attempted to encourage her to give misleading testimony<\/a>, recalling him urging her to \u201cfocus on protecting the president,\u201d and reminding her that \u201cwe all know you\u2019re loyal.\u201d She even quoted Passantino for suggesting that \u201cthe less [she] remember[ed], the better\u201d\u2013\u2013a strikingly unethical recommendation. To make matters worse, according to CNN<\/a>, Passantino was specifically Trump\u2019s top ethics attorney. Moreover, Elections LLC, Passantino\u2019s law firm, was funded by Trump\u2019s \u2018Save America\u2019 Political Action Committee (PAC). Nevertheless, the Jan. 6 committee report<\/a> revealed that Passantino never told Hutchinson who would be responsible for paying for his legal services, failing to disclose the source of his reimbursement for services rendered. Passantino did, however, promise Hutchinson that she would not be responsible for paying his bills.<\/p>\n

Skeptical of Passantino\u2019s behavior, and rightfully so, before giving her public testimony, Hutchinson dropped<\/a> Passantino and found a new lawyer. In December of 2022, committee representative Zoe Lofgren further commented<\/a> that Hutchinson \u201cwas advised to say that she didn\u2019t recall something when she did. So that\u2019s pretty serious stuff,\u201d revealing the committee\u2019s disgust and bewilderment at Passantino\u2019s alleged behavior. Shortly after the accusations went public in late December, Passantino released a statement to CNN<\/a> denying that he advised Hutchinson to mislead the committee. More recently, in early January 2023, Passantino\u2019s professional biography was removed from Michael Best & Friedrich LLP\u2019s website, and he acknowledged<\/a> in a statement that he was on a leave of absence from the firm given \u201cthe distraction\u201d of the matter. He still remains a partner at Elections, LLC.<\/p>\n

\u2018The 65 Project\u2019\u2013informal ethics complaint suggests Passantino violated ethics rules<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>The bipartisan, nonprofit advocacy group is committed to protecting democracy from abuse of the legal system by holding those attorneys accountable who engage in fraudulent or unethical behavior seeking to overturn legitimate election results. On February 15th, 2023, the 65 Project argued in its complaint<\/a> that Passantino committed a series of ethics violations during his time as Hutchinson\u2019s lawyer. The 65 Project thereby announced that it asked the Georgia State Bar to conduct an investigation into Passantino\u2019s possible violations of Georgia\u2019s Rules of Professional Conduct. Last year, the state bar dismissed<\/a> complaints against two other Georgia attorneys brought by The 65 Project in which the agency alleged the attorneys orchestrated a fake electors scheme. Nevertheless, most recently, The 65 Project insists that Passantino\u2019s actions amount to violations of Georgia\u2019s Rules of Professional Conduct for lawyers. The group alleges three violations<\/a>: obstruction of an investigation, breach of confidentiality guidelines, and compromising professional responsibility through accepting funding.<\/p>\n

Passantino\u2019s alleged obstruction of an investigation violated rule 8.4, according to the 65 Project. Rule 8.4 states, \u201cIt is professional misconduct for a lawyer to\u2026engage in conduct that seriously interferes with the administration of justice.\u201d The 65 Project argues that Passantino violated this rule when he refused to prepare Hutchinson for her testimony before the committee. Passantino allegedly even recommended that Hutchinson not \u201cread anything to try to jog\u201d her memory ahead of sitting for an interview with the committee.<\/p>\n

The 65 Project also alleged that Passantino violated rules 1.7 and 1.8 by having an interest in a third party over his own client and by failing to disclose the source of his funding. Rule 1.7<\/a> bars lawyers from representing clients if their \u201cprofessional judgment on behalf of the client will be or reasonably may be adversely affected by the lawyer\u2019s responsibilities to or interests in a third party.\u201d Related to that, rule 1.8<\/a> says that lawyers can only accept funding from someone other than their client so long as there is express consent from the client and no potential interference with the lawyer\u2019s professional judgment or client relationship. As mentioned above, Trump\u2019s \u2018Save America\u2019 PAC paid for Passantino\u2019s services to Hutchinson. Hutchinson suspected this, but when she asked Passantino for clarification, she was continuously stonewalled. The 65 Project argues<\/a> that Passantino \u201cpurposefully represented [Hutchinson] with the intention of protecting the reputation of third parties at the expense of [Hutchinson].\u201d Ross Garber<\/a>, a lawyer for Passantino, said the 65 Project members had no direct knowledge about Passantino’s representation of Hutchinson and called the group’s letter “frivolous and ill-informed.” The Georgia State Bar is reviewing the matter.<\/p>\n

Compliance challenges and the need for more Project 65\u2019s<\/strong><\/p>\n

Law and politics are deeply intertwined, and the rule of law is under duress. Ultimately, law firms and PACs are businesses, and both the Save America PAC paired with Passantino\u2019s conduct exemplifies and exposes widespread corporate and legal non-compliance in a disturbing light. The problem at hand is twofold.<\/p>\n

First, Trump\u2019s chief fundraising vehicle, Save America PAC, has been under legal scrutiny<\/a> for years. The Justice Department has repeatedly issued a round of\u00a0 jury subpoenas that sought records of communications with Trump-allied lawyers who supported efforts to overturn the 2020 election results and plotted to align fake electors<\/a> in battleground states. Second, attorneys like Passantino are taking advantage of funding and these political tactics, breaching their professional responsibilities owed to their clients. To stop this non-compliance in its tracks, a committee, such as The 65 Project, must remain steadfast in its fight against Passantino\u2019s corruption. In order to maintain integrity and ensure compliance in both our legal and political systems, more professional associations must continue taking action to hold both law firms and PACs accountable. The corruption exhibited by both Passantino and Trump\u2019s PAC threatens democracy itself, and similar future misconduct ought to be curtailed by any means necessary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Monday, March 6, 2023, marks two-and-one-quarter years since the notorious attack on the U.S. Capitol. Since then, the unprecedented insurrection\u2019s aftermath has thrust Trump-aligned supporters and politicians into the political limelight. As the House of Representatives continues its comprehensive investigation, Cassidy Hutchinson, former White House aide and standout witness of the House\u2019s Jan. 6th committee investigation, recently accused President Trump\u2019s former White House attorney Stefan Passantino of unethical legal maneuvering. On Wednesday February 15, 2023, nearly three months after her allegations were brought, bipartisan U.S. legal advocacy group \u2018The 65 Project\u2019 filed an informal ethics complaint against Passantino.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":155,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[227,229,762,1639],"class_list":["post-5278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fraud-abuse","tag-attorney-ethics","tag-attorney-regulation","tag-ethics","tag-professional-misconduct"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/compliance\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/compliance\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/compliance\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/compliance\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/155"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/compliance\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/compliance\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5278\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/compliance\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/compliance\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/compliance\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}