In a bombshell statement Friday, Hope Hicks expressed concern over the revelation in the waning days of the election that a lewd tape of Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and allegations that he had affairs with a Playboy model and a porn star emerged in the waning days of the election.
Hicks, a close Trump aide who speaks with him daily, said the Trump campaign feared the potential implications of the Hollywood Access tape on the upcoming election. He also testified that Trump did not want the newspaper delivered to his home on the day of the story about his affair with Playboy playmate Karen McDougal.
Hicks, the ninth witness in the trial, took the stand tentatively. “I’m really nervous,” she said, her blonde hair falling in soft layers around her shoulders.
He then began to cry as his defense attorney, Emil Bove, began to question his early years working for Trump in real estate at the Trump Organization.
Hicks reluctantly adds to the prosecution’s story
While debating all efforts to control such an explosive report, the jury was out on a Category 4 hurricane out of the news. He said Trump’s small, tight-knit campaign feared the potential implications of the Hollywood Access tape for his prospects in the election.
Hicks, who joined Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign after working at a real estate company, has been a recurring adviser to Trump during his administration. He followed her to the White House, where he took on a role in communications management, operating mostly behind the scenes.
Hicks offered observations of Trump’s relationship with key employees at the real estate company, saying he spoke with him every day. Crucially, he suggested the court publicly recall many of the events and conversations prosecutors presented in their case against Trump, including with his one-time fixer Michael Cohen and former National Enquirer publisher David Packer.
Previously, Packer described how Hicks “went in and out” of a meeting with Trump and Cohen at Trump Tower in August 2015, where the magazine publisher agreed to be the “eyes and ears of the campaign” and discussed their “campaign” plan. catch and kill” potentially harmful stories.
Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records related to payments made by Cohen. He denied all the charges.
Hicks testified that Trump did everything
Hicks echoed Packer, who characterized Trump as a micromanager. Hicks said Trump was “very involved” in the campaign’s media strategy. “He knew what he wanted to say and how he wanted to say it; he is to be commended for the various messages that the campaign focuses on.”
It was a small team, and when Hicks, then a campaign spokesman, received an email from a reporter asking about the Access Hollywood tape, he recalled sending a request for comment to his inner circle of advisers, some of whom remain with Trump today.
Denials
After learning from a Wall Street Journal reporter who reached out for comment about McDougal and Stormy Daniels, who said they had a relationship with Trump and were paid to keep quiet, Hicks said he was trying to “buy a little extra time” using Trump. son-in-law Jared Kushner calls newspaper publisher Rupert Murdoch.
Finally, he issued a statement denying that he was aware of any agreement between the National Enquirer and McDougal and that McDougal’s allegation of an affair with Trump was “absolutely untrue.”
Hicks said a specific rebuttal on the issue came at Trump’s request, saying that “perceptions of a relationship are not true.”
Hicks paints Cohen in an unflattering light
Hicks told the court that Trump told him about his conversation with Cohen after the New York Times reported that Cohen had paid Daniels without Trump’s knowledge.
Trump seems to have confirmed that Cohen told him the same thing.
But Hicks questioned Trump’s account when asked if it matched the Cohen he knew.
“I didn’t know that Michael was a particularly philanthropic or selfless person; he’s a credit seeker,” Hicks said.
He also confirmed that Cohen was not an employee of the campaign and acted independently, in what he considered at times problematic.
“He liked to call himself ‘the fixer’ or ‘Mr.’ Fix it, but that was only because he broke it in the first place,” Hicks said.
Merchan corrected the claim that Trump could not take the stand
Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom Thursday, Trump argued that the gag order was intended to prevent him from disparaging witnesses in the media and would prevent him from taking the stand. But that’s not true, Merchan said Friday.
“As the name of the order suggests,” it only applies to out-of-court testimony, Merchan said, adding that Trump has an “absolute right” to testify.
Trump was fined $9,000 this week for traffic violations, and Merchan warned that continuing to do so could force a judge to imprison him.
In fundraising messages, Trump used the order to bolster his campaign and warned supporters he could be jailed for telling them he was being silenced.
Merchan demurred when the prosecution asked whether Trump had testified that he violated traffic laws.