We had just learned that Cassidy Hutchinson had been advised by her original lawyer, Stefan Passantino, to lie to the January 6th Committee. There was also the question about whether Passantino was being paid by Trump and to whom Passantino's loyalty laid.

Now it is being reported that Passantino has abruptly taken a leave of absence from the Milwaukee-based law firm for which he worked:

Stefan Passantino, the original advisor to key Jan. 6 witness former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, has taken a leave of absence from law firm effective immediately, as documented evidence and related scrutiny grows about his initial guidance for Hutchinson to mislead the Jan. 6 committee during her testimony.

Passantino serves as lead political attorney for Milwaukee-based law firm Michael Best & Friedrich, a position he has held for four years. His bio has been completely erased from the law firm's website and a company email confirmed Passantino's absence.

While Passantino was not working on behalf of the Michael Best & Friedrich law firm during his advisement of Hutchinson, in the position he did work with several Political Action Committees that worked with President Donald Trump. Known as the top ethics lawyer in the Trump Administration, he was an obvious choice to provide legal guidance to Hutchinson prior to her Jan. 6 testimony.

Now, I'm not a ethics lawyer, nor do I play one on the internet. But it sure does seem that Passantino's conduct has not been very legal nor very ethical. And with his sudden leave of absence, he doesn't seem very innocent.