Attorney Stefan Passantino, who participated in the House Select Committee’s Jan. 6 hearings, has filed a legal complaint against Michael Teter, founder of the 65 Project, for filing baseless ethics complaints against nearly 100 attorneys and promoting a “culture of deterrence” as to lawyers aligned with former President Donald Trump.
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Passantino, with the help of America First Legal, seeks to hold Project 65 accountable for using intimidation tactics to harm the former president’s allies.
The complaint argues that Teter’s methods violate professional conduct standards by making unfounded allegations against political opponents who happen to be attorneys.
“When members of the bar seek to attack other members of the bar simply because of the clients they have, the causes they advance—or worse, because of meritless lies and half-truths advanced in the media—the entire profession suffers.”
The complaint alleges that “The 65 Project was formed for the purpose of ‘disbarring [ ] Trump-aligned attorneys’ and ‘Trump’s legal allies.’”
Teter told CNN that “[c]reating a system of deterrence requires that people know these complaints have been filed,” according to the legal action.
/1🚨BREAKING NEWS🚨
We just filed a bar complaint against the Director of “The 65 Project,” Michael Teter, for abusing the attorney grievance process to target and intimidate lawyers affiliated with President Trump.
DETAILS IN THREAD… pic.twitter.com/nXpZmaN3Zi
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) October 28, 2024
AFL claims Project 65 relied on media reports and congressional transcripts rather than firsthand knowledge of wrongdoing to file their complaints against attorneys allied with Trump.
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“Without any direct knowledge of the facts, Mr. Teter lacked an adequate factual basis to file his complaint…Purporting to give insights into our client’s motives and purposes, which he could not possibly know, Mr. Teter alleged ‘[h]is other tactic was to prepare his client as little as possible, in the hopes she would be less able to answer basic questions during her testimony,’” the complaint states.
Passantino is known for representing Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to Mark Meadows, who had served as Trump’s chief of staff during his first term as president. The attorney argues that Teter’s behavior violates Utah’s Rules of Professional Conduct by attributing improper motives and disparaging other lawyers based on political affiliation.
“The Supreme Court of Utah’s interpretation of Rule 8.4 does not allow lawyers to be penalized for representing or associating with a disfavored client,” the document reads.
AFL goes on to accuse Teter of “improperly and unethically” seeking to punish Trump-aligned lawyers through “his organization’s terror campaign of ethics complaints.”
Teter’s objective was to send a message aimed at discouraging attorneys from representing the former president or clients associated with him. “The motivating principle underlying these complaints is the desire to punish lawyers associated with a single client, not any breach of a Rule of Professional Conduct,” the complaint reads.
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The complaint concludes by asking the Office of Professional Conduct to investigate Teter’s actions, claiming that they violate ethical standards and the principles of civility.
Hutchinson became a central witness in the Jan. 6 investigation and made some outrageous claims during her testimony before Congress. She claimed to have heard that on that day, Trump tried to push past Secret Service agents to grab the steering wheel of the limousine in which he was being transported from the Capitol building.
