A federal judge has thrown out former Trump White House lawyer Stefan Passantino's defamation lawsuit against MSNOW commentator Andrew Weissmann, ruling that the very transcript Passantino cited in his own defense actually backs up the claim he was suing over.
Passantino sued Weissmann in 2023 after the former federal prosecutor tweeted that Passantino had "coached" a witness to lie before Congress, an apparent reference to Passantino's representation of Cassidy Hutchinson during her early depositions before the January 6 Select Committee. Passantino argued the tweet destroyed a three-decade legal career, pointing to Hutchinson's own testimony that he'd "never told me to lie" and had specifically told her not to.
U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan wasn't persuaded. Reviewing the full deposition transcript, she found Passantino had repeatedly urged Hutchinson to answer "I don't recall" even when she indicated she actually did remember details, advice Hutchinson said left her feeling she "couldn't be forthcoming" when she wanted to be.
"The transcript, far from contradicting Mr. Weissman's statement, supports it," AliKhan wrote.
The judge noted that to "coach" someone to lie doesn't require literally instructing them to lie outright — prompting someone toward false statements can qualify too.
AliKhan pointed out that Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) had publicly told Congress the committee had evidence a lawyer instructed a witness she could claim not to recall facts she actually remembered, and that multiple major news outlets, including the New York Times and CNN, had already identified Passantino as that lawyer well before Weissmann's tweet.
Because Passantino couldn't show Weissmann had any reason to doubt the truth of his statement, AliKhan ruled he failed to meet the legal standard required to prove defamation, granting judgment in Weissmann's favor and closing out a case that had dragged on for nearly two years.
