Quick Facts
Biography
Stefan Passantino (born August 12, 1966) is an American lawyer and former ethics attorney who worked in President Trump's Office of White House Counsel.He is best known for his representation of a witness in theJan 6 Capitol attackHouse investigation. In January 2023 he was hired by the Trump Organization.
Legal and public service career
Early life
Passantino graduated from Drew University in 1988, and Emory University School of Law in 1991. Passantino was Managing Editor of the Emory Law Journal.He then clerked for U.S. District Judge Herbert Murray.
Private practice and Trump administration
He was head of McKenna Long & Aldridge’s political law team until it merged with Dentons in 2015, where Passantino was the head of the political division; he advised clients on issues including campaign contribution rules and disclosure guidelines. Chambers USA 2010 called him one of the leading political lawyers in U.S. He is a co-author of Handbook on Corporate Political Activity, a "regular contributor" for media outlets including CNN, Fox News, and Politico, and a visiting professor at the University of Georgia.
Passantino joined the Trump administration in January 2017, serving as deputy counsel to the president, working on compliance and ethics, policing conflicts of interest, and approving and enforcing ethics requirements. His nomination had the strong support of Howard Dean, former Democratic presidential candidate, who opined that Passantino would be clear about ethical boundaries. Newt Gingrich also backed him, stating he would “stand firm for an administration that is above reproach.”The major conflict of interest case that came upduring his tenure was Kellyanne Conway's endorsement of Ivanka Trump's clothing line. Passantino ruled that this was an inadvertent error, and there was no disciplinary action.
He left the administration in August 2018, joining Milwaukee-based law firm Michael Best, where Passantino was a partner and led the firm's political law group. On December 21, 2022, he took a leave of absence from the firm.
On December 28, 2022, Michael Best said in a statement that the firm separated their relationship with Passantino.
In January 2023 the Trump Organization has hired him to assist with congressional inquiries into Donald Trump's business interests.
Representation of Cassidy Hutchinson
Passantino was the lawyer for Cassidy Hutchinson, a former White House aide who was unemployed at the time, who under subpoena testified before the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack. Trump's Save America political action committee paid Passantino for his representation of Hutchinson, and the committee reported that he did not tell her who was paying him. After she was deposed, Hutchinson received a call from a top aide to Mark Meadows saying: "Mark wants me to let you know that he knows you’re loyal, and he knows you’ll do the right thing tomorrow and that you’re going to protect him and the boss." Concerned that her testimony was being conveyed to Trump, and suspecting Passantino's legal team of leaking it to him, she terminated Passantino's representation of her.
Hutchinson testified that White House officials anticipated violence days in advance of January 6, that Trump knew supporters at the Ellipse rally were armed with weapons including AR-15s, yet asked to relax security checks at his speech, and that Trump planned to join the crowd at the Capitol and became irate when the Secret Service refused his request. She said that she was encouraged to claim "I do not recall" for events she remembered which might make the president look bad. Hutchinson's testified that Passantino assured her that "Trump world" would find her a job and keep her in the family. On December 20, 2022, CNN identified Passantino as the lawyer who urged a key witness to mislead the committee. On December 22, 2022, the committee released the transcript of Hutchinson's interview, describing her interactions with Passantino.Days before her testimony, she dismissed Passantino, replacing him with attorney Jody Hunt. Passantino denied urging her to mislead the panel.
The committee has urged the DOJ to examine the facts of this case to see whether prosecution is warranted. In March 2023, several dozen prominent legal figures filed a complaint seeking to have Passantino's law license revoked on allegations of subornation of perjury, obstruction of justice, witness tampering, and bribery.
In December, 2023, Passantino accused the House January 6 committee of spreading false information about his representation of Hutchinson and is seeking $67 million in damages. He filed a Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) lawsuit on Dec. 20 in the Northern District of Georgia.
Political activities
Passantino was "national counsel" on Newt Gingrich's 2012 presidential campaign and for former House Speaker Dennis Hastert. He also served as Johnny Isakson and Roy Blunt's chief election counsel.
In 2019 he founded Elections LLC to advise President Trump's 2020 campaign and other Republican candidates. Elections LLC received about $2 million (~$2.24 million in 2022) from Trump associated PACs. In October 2020, just before the last debate, Passantino met with a Wall Street Journal reporter, providing information linking Hunter Biden to his father, regarding Hunter's Chinese dealings. After due diligence, the story was limited to a stub, and noted that there was no proof of the central claim that Joe Biden had profited from his son's dealings.
In 2020 he co-chaired Lawyers for Trump, a national organization of lawyers formed to mobilize support for Trump's reelection campaign. After the 2020 presidential election Passantino sued in court to overturn the results in Georgia, On November 22, 2022, a federal subpoena was served on election officials in several states seeking their records for all communications with Passantino.