JUST IN: Top MSNBC Personality Gets Brutal Legal Ruling

A federal court in Washington, D.C., has ruled that a defamation lawsuit against Andrew Weissmann, a prominent MSNBC legal analyst and former prosecutor, can move forward. The decision stems from allegations brought by Stefan Passantino, a former Trump White House lawyer, who claims Weissmann defamed him in a social media post concerning the January 6 investigation.

The dispute traces back to a public statement made by Weissmann, who suggested that Passantino coached Cassidy Hutchinson, a key witness in the House committee’s January 6 investigation, to lie under oath. Passantino, who briefly served as legal counsel to Hutchinson during the hearings, denies the accusations and contends that Weissmann’s claim has tarnished his professional reputation.

“Defendant Andrew Weissmann—a partisan former prosecutor and top deputy to Special Counsel Robert Mueller turned MSNBC “legal analyst”—has publicly impugned that reputation, claiming that Mr. Passantino coached his client, Cassidy Hutchinson, to lie in congressional testimony,” the lawsuit stated. “This is an insidious lie. Mr. Passantino never coached Ms. Hutchinson to lie, nor did he attempt to shape her testimony in any way.”

Hutchinson, known for her explosive testimony about the events surrounding the Capitol breach, later changed her legal representation and alleged in her memoir that Passantino encouraged her to provide misleading testimony. Passantino has refuted these assertions, maintaining that his counsel adhered strictly to ethical guidelines. According to court filings cited by The Federalist, Passantino insists Weissmann’s remarks about him were both false and defamatory.

In September 2023, Passantino filed a lawsuit against Weissmann, a former federal prosecutor turned NYU law professor and MSNBC podcast host. The legal action stemmed from a post Weissmann shared on X, the platform previously known as Twitter.

Hunt also is Cassidy Hutchinson’s good lawyer. (Not the one who coached her to lie) And he is the guy who took notes of Trump saying, when Mueller was appointed, quoting him as saying “I’m f….d” https://t.co/HFGmwI9f0B

— Andrew Weissmann (weissmann11 on Threads/Insta)🌻 (@AWeissmann_) September 15, 2023

In December 2022, CNN claimed that Passantino, the chief ethics lawyer in the Trump White House, was identified as an attorney who reportedly counseled his former client, ex-White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, to tell the committee she couldn’t recall certain details she remembered.

Weissmann has defended his statements, describing Passantino’s claims in court as “incomplete and misleading,” according to Law & Crime. He has not publicly retracted the remarks and appears prepared to contest the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges that Weissmann harmed Passantino’s legal reputation with a tweet. Initially, the case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is also presiding over the waning Jan. 6 case involving the president-elect. However, in December 2023, the case was reassigned to U.S. District Judge Loren Ali Khan.

In the court filing, Passantino points to Hutchinson’s own sworn testimony, where she explicitly stated that Passantino never instructed her to lie and, in fact, encouraged honesty. Passantino asserts that Weissmann’s accusations were made with actual malice, driven by partisan animus due to his prior affiliation with former President Trump. As a result, Passantino is seeking damages exceeding $75,000, claiming loss of income, reputational harm, and emotional distress. Weissmann denies the allegations, arguing that his statements were opinions protected by legal privileges and that Passantino cannot demonstrate actual malice or significant damages.

Weissmann, a former prosecutor in the Mueller investigation, has been a vocal critic of former President-elect Donald Trump and his allies. His position as a media pundit makes this case a significant test of the boundaries between opinion and defamatory statements.

YOURS FREE: Claim Your ‘Trump Victory’ Coin NOW!