Trump Paid Multiple Jan. 6 Panel Witnesses' Legal Fees: NYT
By: Tom Porter (Business Insider)
According to two people familiar with the matter, Hutchinson had initially approached Trump's team for help with legal representation after being subpoenaed by the committee.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson. Brandon Bell/Getty Images
- Pro-Trump groups paid the legal fees for multiple January 6 witnesses, the NYT reported.
- It includes Cassidy Hutchinson, who later fired her lawyer and gave damning testimony, the NYT said.
- The reported arrangements suggest Trump may be seeking to influence witnesses by paying their legal fees.
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Former President Donald Trump's allies and supporters paid the legal fees for multiple people who had provided testimony to the January 6 committee, including the former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, The New York Times reported.
Hutchinson eventually fired the lawyer who was paid for by a pro-Trump group, and went on to provide damning testimony about Trump, the report said.
Two sources familiar with the committee told The Times that they believe Hutchinson's decision to part ways with the lawyer — who had been recommended by Trump allies and paid for by a pro-Trump PAC — likely played a role in her decision to provide new evidence.
Her previous attorney was Stefan Passantino, who worked as an ethics lawyer for the Trump White House, Reuters reported. Hutchinson provided the testimony about Trump's actions in taped interviews behind closed doors and on Tuesday in stunning testimony to the committee after hiring a new lawyer, Jody Hunt.
According to two people familiar with the matter, Hutchinson had initially approached Trump's team for help with legal representation after being subpoenaed by the committee.
Insider has contacted Passatino, Hunt, and Trump's office for comment.
Hutchinson, a former aide to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, claimed that Trump sought to join protesters he knew were armed as they marched towards the Capitol on January 6, 2021, to delay Joe Biden's certification as president.
According to the Times report, pro-Trump groups had fully or partially paid for the legal fees of dozens of January 6 committee witnesses, including the former White House advisor Stephen Miller, who provided testimony to the committee behind closed doors in April. The Times did not identify other witnesses whose legal fees Trump allies allegedly helped pay for.
In particular, Trump's Save America PAC has paid the legal fees of several former Trump officials who had testified to the committee, while the American Conservative Union's "First Amendment Fund" has provided legal consultation for around a dozen witnesses or paid for their legal bills, The Times reported.
The reported arrangements raise concerns that Trump is seeking to influence witnesses in the investigation. The committee has also shown messages from Trump allies to witnesses apparently warning them against testifying.
There are no laws against a third party paying for a witness' legal representation in a congressional inquiry, but the situation may raise some ethical concerns, according to the report. Witness tampering, however, is a federal crime.
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And don't let the fetched title fool you. That ISN'T the real one. This is
Trump allies paid legal fees for multiple Jan. 6 witnesses, including Cassidy Hutchinson, sparking witness-influencing concerns, report says
But I bet some of our friends here won't get past the headline........................
Then that is some mob shit Trump is pulling, again.
He was probably paying them with the "Stop the Steal" money that he fraudulently obtained.
Hmm…how do you interpret ‘trump allies’ and how do you think that may alter the ‘witness influencing’ concerns?
So let's ponder the following ... Mrs. TttH files to divorce you and hires you a lawyer and pays for him/her. Just whose interests is the lawyer representing? Hint, you are about to be screwed under a bus by both.
You've had some wild assed adventures my friend.
That I have.
So Trump bribed Hutchinson to lie about him lunging at his Secret Service detail's throat?
I can't wait for Putin to tweet that that was "genius!"
While this rings true for Trump and his minions, this is according to two anonymous sources.
The truth is probably that Trump promised to pay the legal fees so that the witnesses would take advice from Trump-friendly counsel. Trump's style would be to stiff the witness after the testimony.
But this is all speculation and is not all that important in the big picture.
I see I was correct. Looks like most didn't get past the headline. Not surprised. It had that "but Trump" flair to it...............
On what grounds do you say that? I read the NY Times article that this simply rehashed. So what are you 'correct' about?
So she dumped the lawyer so she could talk some more........and avoid any kickback due to the fact that it was paid for by Trump Allies.
Seems logical to me. If my attorney was leading me in a direction that did not meet my standards of honesty, I would seek alternate counsel too. If this story is true then good for Hutchinson to forego 'free' legal support for integrity.
This is sort of an interesting line in the article... From what I understand, a lot of the people who work in the White House are not pulling down mid 6 digit salaries for their work and they are living in an area of the country that has a rather high cost of living. The majority of them would be hard pressed to afford the type of legal help needed when testifying to Congress and I thought it was always kind of standard practice to go back to your "team" to ask for help with the legal representation in situations like this.
But it also seems to be standard fair for some of the opposition to treat these occurrences as sort of a holy grail of evidence of malfeasance.
Exactly.................as witnessed above
I think it would also be interesting to find out who is paying the attorney fees for her new counsel. Washington lawyers don't come cheap.
Maybe Jody Hunt is doing it pro bono. Who is Jody Hunt?:
Maybe, we just don't know. That's why I said it would be interesting to find out who is paying for the legal fees. If it's being done pro bono than basically the lawyers are paying themselves.
All we know at this point is that she has two lawyers representing her after she fired the legal team that was being paid by a pro-Trump PAC.
Jody Hunt and William Jordan are her current lawyers.
From the article:
For those who arrived late to class:
Hutchinson is the witness and Trump is the tamperer.