Passantino allegedly recommended that Hutchinson tell the committee she did not recall what she did. The lawyer also did not share with the client that Trump’s Save America committee was paying for his services, according to the report.
Hutchinson became one of the major witnesses in the committee probe. She dropped Passantino and hired a new legal counsel before her testimony in Congress, the report said.
Passantino told CNN that he never asked Hutchinson to mislead the committee.
"I believed Ms. Hutchinson was being truthful and cooperative with the Committee throughout the several interview sessions in which I represented her," he said.
Passantino added it is not uncommon for people to change lawyers "because their interests or strategies change." He noted that political committees sometimes cover client fees "at the client’s request," the report said.
During her testimony, Hutchinson, a chief aide to former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, revealed damning conversations between Meadows, former President Donald Trump and other senior officials which illustrate the level of their alleged involvement in and knowledge of the violence that took place during the January 6 riot.