The phrase "asserts in passing" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when someone makes a statement or claim casually or without emphasis, often as a side note rather than the main point.
Example: "In her article, she asserts in passing that climate change is accelerating faster than predicted."
Alternatives: "mentions casually" or "states in passing".
As for that billion figure, that came from a press release for Jackson's estate a couple of years ago, which asserted, in passing and with no documentation, that the singer had sold an "estimated" billion records.
"Dead Certain" also asserts, almost in passing, that it was John Roberts who suggested Harriet Miers to Mr. Bush as a possible Supreme Court nominee, leading to her disastrous nomination.
"Doll, this town is insane," explained the artist, who was born Clarence Dennis Sanders roughly 42 years ago, in the shadow, he sometimes asserts in the stream-of-consciousness orations that pass for conversation, of Simon Rodia's famous towers in Watts.
Mr. Israel asserts in the memo that Mr. Ryan's budget, which passed in the Republican-controlled House, is "is toxic with voters," and that its proposed changes to the Medicare program are also a problem.
Various states have threatened to go to court to assert that Congress acted outside its authority in passing the health-care reform bill.
As Proclus asserts in prop.
In his dissent, Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. asserted that Justice Kagan accused legislators of "ignorance" in passing these laws — that they have "accidentally required 2,000 teenagers to spend the rest of their lives in jail".
The authors only mentioned in passing that medical imaging saves lives, and quickly moved on to the many sensational claims asserting that CT scans are killing patients that formed the main message of the article.
But even at the height of it all, Mr. Harrison saw beyond Beatlemania and pop stardom when he asserted, in a tone of acceptance rather than bitterness, "All things must pass".
Don't Be Afraid to Correct Mistakes When President Ford asserted in a 1976 debate that Poland was not under Soviet domination, he passed up chances to correct himself.
