Stefan Passantino

Great, but I didn't have anything to do with that. And she says, no, we, CNN, are in possession of a transcript that Cassidy Hutchinson gave, a 150-page transcript that she gave on September 14th, in which she identifies you, Stefan, as the person who told her to lie, who couched her to say, I don't recall when I do all of these things. We're going to run with that story. And I said...

Well, I'm telling you, I know nothing of these allegations. I've never heard these allegations. The January 6th committee never called me as a witness. They called 2,000 people. They never called me in. If this is a fact-finding mission, you would think that perhaps I would be called at a minimum to be told. Especially since you're being accused of a crime. Yes.

Well, I'm telling you, I know nothing of these allegations. I've never heard these allegations. The January 6th committee never called me as a witness. They called 2,000 people. They never called me in. If this is a fact-finding mission, you would think that perhaps I would be called at a minimum to be told. Especially since you're being accused of a crime. Yes.

Well, I'm telling you, I know nothing of these allegations. I've never heard these allegations. The January 6th committee never called me as a witness. They called 2,000 people. They never called me in. If this is a fact-finding mission, you would think that perhaps I would be called at a minimum to be told. Especially since you're being accused of a crime. Yes.

literally a crime, two crimes, a felony of obstruction, witness tampering. These are felonies. And CNN tells me, we're going to run a story tomorrow in which we are going to identify you as the person who obstructed this witness. We're going to accuse you of a crime. Of course, I was shocked. I said, I've never heard this. I can't really provide a lot of comment.

literally a crime, two crimes, a felony of obstruction, witness tampering. These are felonies. And CNN tells me, we're going to run a story tomorrow in which we are going to identify you as the person who obstructed this witness. We're going to accuse you of a crime. Of course, I was shocked. I said, I've never heard this. I can't really provide a lot of comment.

literally a crime, two crimes, a felony of obstruction, witness tampering. These are felonies. And CNN tells me, we're going to run a story tomorrow in which we are going to identify you as the person who obstructed this witness. We're going to accuse you of a crime. Of course, I was shocked. I said, I've never heard this. I can't really provide a lot of comment.

Well, on that Monday, as the story is breaking- So your world is collapsing. My world has not yet collapsed. I, at that point, have now received notice from CNN that tomorrow, Tuesday, they're going to identify me as the person. On that day, on Monday, I receive a phone call from one of Cassie Hutchinson's former friends saying, this is outrageous what they're doing to you.

Well, on that Monday, as the story is breaking- So your world is collapsing. My world has not yet collapsed. I, at that point, have now received notice from CNN that tomorrow, Tuesday, they're going to identify me as the person. On that day, on Monday, I receive a phone call from one of Cassie Hutchinson's former friends saying, this is outrageous what they're doing to you.

Well, on that Monday, as the story is breaking- So your world is collapsing. My world has not yet collapsed. I, at that point, have now received notice from CNN that tomorrow, Tuesday, they're going to identify me as the person. On that day, on Monday, I receive a phone call from one of Cassie Hutchinson's former friends saying, this is outrageous what they're doing to you.

I have text messages that I have previously provided to CNN and other news networks. And these text messages make clear that you, Stefan, were telling Cassidy to cooperate and she didn't want to cooperate. Now, I have a conversation at that point with Caitlin Polance at CNN, who's the CNN reporter who's running this story before it had come out. And I called Caitlin myself. I said, Caitlin,

I have text messages that I have previously provided to CNN and other news networks. And these text messages make clear that you, Stefan, were telling Cassidy to cooperate and she didn't want to cooperate. Now, I have a conversation at that point with Caitlin Polance at CNN, who's the CNN reporter who's running this story before it had come out. And I called Caitlin myself. I said, Caitlin,

I have text messages that I have previously provided to CNN and other news networks. And these text messages make clear that you, Stefan, were telling Cassidy to cooperate and she didn't want to cooperate. Now, I have a conversation at that point with Caitlin Polance at CNN, who's the CNN reporter who's running this story before it had come out. And I called Caitlin myself. I said, Caitlin,

I am aware that you're going to run this story that is going to literally accuse me of a crime. And I'm aware that you have a transcript that I have never seen before that is going to make these accusations. But I'm also aware that you are in possession of text messages that directly contradict that narrative. You have Cassidy's text messages saying, Stefan wants me to cooperate.

I am aware that you're going to run this story that is going to literally accuse me of a crime. And I'm aware that you have a transcript that I have never seen before that is going to make these accusations. But I'm also aware that you are in possession of text messages that directly contradict that narrative. You have Cassidy's text messages saying, Stefan wants me to cooperate.

I am aware that you're going to run this story that is going to literally accuse me of a crime. And I'm aware that you have a transcript that I have never seen before that is going to make these accusations. But I'm also aware that you are in possession of text messages that directly contradict that narrative. You have Cassidy's text messages saying, Stefan wants me to cooperate.

I don't want to cooperate. I am going to be the one who's going to do this media narrative myself. on my own behind his back. And so I'd say, Caitlin, I said, I'm not asking you to exonerate me, but if CNN is going to run a story identifying me as a criminal and you are in possession of additional facts that create exculpatory documents, you have an obligation to run that.

I don't want to cooperate. I am going to be the one who's going to do this media narrative myself. on my own behind his back. And so I'd say, Caitlin, I said, I'm not asking you to exonerate me, but if CNN is going to run a story identifying me as a criminal and you are in possession of additional facts that create exculpatory documents, you have an obligation to run that.

I don't want to cooperate. I am going to be the one who's going to do this media narrative myself. on my own behind his back. And so I'd say, Caitlin, I said, I'm not asking you to exonerate me, but if CNN is going to run a story identifying me as a criminal and you are in possession of additional facts that create exculpatory documents, you have an obligation to run that.

And Caitlin Polance's direct quote to me was, that's not newsworthy. I said, how is that not newsworthy? This is directly relevant. She said that to you? She said that to me. Caitlin Polance? Caitlin Polance of CNN, who is still there at CNN. And I then had my lawyer communicate and have numerous conversations where I say, I know.