White House rejects Dem request to interview ex-Trump aide
The White House on Friday rejected a Democratic congressional request to interview a former White House lawyer about hundreds of thousands of dollars in hush money payments made by President Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen.
White House counsel Pat Cipollone told House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) in a letter obtained by The Hill that the White House has been “cooperative and responsive” to the panel's requests for documents.
But Cipollone said that because the Oversight panel wants to interview Trump’s former deputy assistant and deputy counsel Stefan Passantino about things he discussed or advised during his White House tenure, the request needs to be sent to Cipollone’s office — not directly to Passantino.
Passantino left the White House last summer and is now working for the Trump Organization, handling requests from House Democrats like Cummings who have launched multiple investigations into Trump, his family members and allies, and his business dealings.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/433321-white-house-rejects-dem-request-to-interview-ex-trump-aide
= new reply since forum marked as read
A tad of background on Passantino:
Stefan Passantino, the former White House deputy counsel in charge of policing ethics in the Trump administration, offered a glimpse Monday into what he said was the immediate and predictable chaos that followed after President Donald Trump finished taking the oath of office in 2017.
Passantino—now a partner at Michael Best with offices in Atlanta and Washington—also defended newly-minted White House staff who had to abandon an operating style that served them well on the campaign trail, but that threatened to violate federal ethics laws once Trump became president.
https://www.law.com/dailyreportonline/2018/12/03/trumps-former-ethics-czar-reflects-on-white-houses-legal-challenges/?slreturn=20190209141153
Stephan Passantino
He was IN CHARGE OF POLICING ETHICS, FFS
Boy, I bet American Hero Walt Shaub knows EXACTLY who he is, poor dear Mr. Shaub
