CNN’s Honig Warns Trump Lawyer ‘Line is Crossed’ if He Urged Cassidy Hutchinson to Give False Testimony

CNN’s Elie Honig suggested that former Trump White House lawyer Stefan Passantino could be in legal trouble from what Cassidy Hutchinson revealed in her testimony about the counsel he gave her.

The January 6th Committee released transcripts of Hutchinson’s testimony on Thursday, wherein she spoke about how Passantino tried to coach her through her interviews about Donald Trump’s conduct before and after the Capitol Riot. Hutchinson described numerous instances of Passantino influencing her, recalling how he offered to help her get a post-White House job in Trumpworld, urged her to downplay her knowledge of events, and other tense conversations about her fears of withholding what she knew from the committee.

Honig joined Ana Cabrera and Sara Murray to discuss this from a legal and ethical standpoint. Asked if Passantino “crossed the line,” Honig began by saying “I don’t recall” is a common refrain in this kind of testimony, though Hutchinson’s characterizations could hold troubling ramifications for Passantino.

“It’s important to understand, though: that is not an automatic do-whatever-you-want-for-free card. It can be difficult to disprove, but if you’re a lawyer, and your client does know or does recall something, and you tell them ‘just say you don’t recall,’ that crosses a line,” said Honig. “All these other pressure tactics, they happen. It’s not okay. But the line is crossed if he tells her to testify falsely, and that would be false if that’s the way it proves out.”

Asked what this means for Hutchinson’s credibility, Honig explained that the Committee will use this to establish their argument that Trump and his allies tried to pressure witnesses into giving false testimony. Meanwhile, he predicted Trump’s lawyers would attempt to use this to paint Hutchinson as dishonest in spite of what pressure she was under at the time.

Watch above via CNN.