Ex-Cassidy Hutchinson lawyer seeks default judgement against Jan. 6 Select Committee

The lawyer who originally represented former Mark Meadows aide Cassidy Hutchinson before the Jan. 6 Select Committee has filed a motion to the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Georgia asking for a default judgement in his suit against the government. 

In December, Stefan Passantino sued the government alleging that the House Democrat-led Jan. 6 investigation violated his rights to due process and tarnished his reputation for uncritically reproducing Hutchinson's claims about his legal representation of her. 

The government failed to respond to the complaint by the deadline, April 15. Instead, it filed a request for an extension on the last day, which was denied. Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a defendant who fails to respond to a lawsuit may be subjected to a default judgment issued upon pleadings like those filed by Passantino. 

"As of the time of this filing, the United States of America has not answered or otherwise responded to the Complaint and thus it is in default," their filing read, according to court documents reviewed by Just the News. 

The Jan. 6 Select Committee in its final report of December 2022 has accused Passantino of coaching or pressuring Cassidy Hutchinson before her testimony before the committee to stay loyal to Trump, something he has adamantly denied. This was cited as a reason her original testimony about the events of that day changed so drastically.

Just the News previously documented several new narratives Hutchinson brought to the committee after Passantino ceased representing her, including the infamous story about then-President Trump allegedly grabbing the wheel of the presidential vehicle in anger. 

Last month, Passantino was cleared by both the Georgia and Washington, D.C. Bars after complaints were filed against him for alleged improper conduct in his representation of Hutchinson. Neither Bar found and serious ethics violations, Just the News reported in March. 

**Correction: This story has been corrected to show that Passantino's lawyers have asked for a default judgment, but no such order appears to have been issued.