'Problematic lawyer relationships': DOJ investigating who is paying Trump officials’ lawyer fees

17 January 2023

DOJ special counsel Jack Smith is looking into finding out who pays for former president Donald Trump officials’ lawyer fees, Huffpost reports.

Originally reported by The Washington Post, the subpoenas that were given to Trump’s campaign staff recently revealed this information. Just last month, the January 6 committee’s final report included evidence that former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson’s former lawyer would not disclose to her who was covering his fees.

AlterNet previously reported that Hutchinson was urged to lie by Trump attorney Steve Passantino during her testimony last year about her recollection of events leading up to Jan. 6 — which clearly revealed “problematic lawyer relationships” within the administration.

During her testimony, Hutchinson said she was notified, “We’re gonna get you a really good job in Trump world. You don’t need to apply other places. We’re gonna get you taken care of. We want to keep you in the family.” In reference to her assertion that Passantino encouraged her to lie, she said he told her: “Look, we want to get you in, get you out. We’re going to downplay your role. You were a secretary ... everyone’s on the same page about this. ... The less you remember, the better.”

Once Hutchinson realized she was being persuaded to fabricate her testimony, she dropped Passantino as her lawyer.

Jan. 6 committee member Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) said, “The witness believed this was an effort to affect her testimony, and we are concerned that these efforts may have been a strategy to prevent the committee from finding the truth.”

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