Trump's Hush-Money Trial: Hope Hick Cries on the Witness Stand
By: Laura Italiano, Jacob Shamsian, Natalie Musumeci (Business Insider)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
- Hope Hicks, a former longtime advisor to Donald Trump, took the witness stand in his hush-money trial Friday.
- Just after Trump's lawyer began cross-examining her, she broke down in tears.
- Hicks was Trump's 2016 campaign press secretary and later his White House communications director.
Hope Hicks, an ex-White House aide and longtime advisor to Donald Trump, broke down in tears while on the witness stand on Friday in the former president's hush-money criminal trial.
Her voice cracked as she began answering questions Friday afternoon from Trump's lawyer Emil Bove, who had asked her whether the Trump Organization created the position of Communications Director to get her to join the company in October 2014.
After answering "yes," Hicks grabbed a tissue and turned to her left while sitting on the witness stand. She turned her face and body away from the courtroom audience.
"Ms. Hicks, do you need a break?" the trial judge Juan Merchan asked.
"Yes, please," she responded in a cracked voice, while facing away from the judge.
After the judge announced a break just before 3 p.m., Hicks walked across the courtroom, passing by Trump without looking at him.
Hicks is a key witness in the trial, potentially linking Trump directly to what prosecutors call an election-influencing scheme to purchase a porn star's silence in the days before the 2016 presidential election.
She said on the stand in the chilly 15th-floor downtown Manhattan courtroom that she was testifying pursuant to a subpoena in the historic case.
Prosecutors in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office allege Trump illegally falsified 34 business records by covering up a $130,000 hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.
The payment, handled by Trump's ex-personal attorney and former fixer Michael Cohen, was made to Daniels 11 days before the 2016 presidential election to buy her silence over a 2006 sexual encounter with Trump, according to records shown as evidence in the trial.
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While Trump's lawyers have claimed the arrangements were made to avoid personal embarrassment, Hicks — Trump's 2016 campaign communications director — testified about working with Trump and Cohen to respond to media inquiries about the scandal.
In their opening statements, prosecutors said the campaign was particularly vulnerable to the perceptions of female voters following the publication of the Access Hollywood tape, and so Trump sprung into action to block Daniels from going public about an affair she says she had with him.
"I was definitely concerned this was going to be a massive story and make the news cycle for the next couple of days — at least," Hicks said on the witness stand earlier Friday, explaining her reaction to learning about the tape.
In her testimony, Hicks hurt Trump by showing how deeply he — and the campaign — worried about infidelity stories going public in the weeks before the election.
Hicks became emotional as prosecutors wrapped up their direct examination of her.
Her final answer helped bolster the district attorney's case. She said Trump was happy that news of the hush-money arrangement with Daniels had become public in 2018.
"I think it was Mr. Trump's feeling that it was better to be dealing with it now," she said, "rather than just before the election."
Hicks took the witness stand again after about a five-minute break, looking flushed but calmer.
Hicks was one of Trump's most trusted advisors in his 2016 climb to the presidency and federal prosecutors have said in court papers from the 2019 prosecution of Michael Cohen that she could directly tie Trump to the so-called "catch-and-kill" scheme.
She was in on a flurry of phone calls and emails involving Trump, Cohen, and two top executives at the National Enquirer, in the wake of the publication of Trump's notorious Access Hollywood tape, prosecutors have alleged.
"I was concerned. Very concerned," she said of receiving a transcript of the Access Hollywood tape.
Hicks was also in on a three-way conference call with Trump and Cohen as they allegedly talked about safeguarding Clifford's silence, the feds alleged on pages 41 and 42 of a 269-page search warrant.
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She cried because telling the truth required her to damage trump's case. She recounted a conversation where Trump admitted the election was the factor behind paying off Stormy daniels.
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Translation: "Election interference".
cool. Can you tell me what was illegal?
Getting her to sign an NDA? Paying money for it? Not wanting the media to discuss a story that portrays a candidate in a bad light?
I've read the indictment. The Grand jury did not charge him with conspiring to suppress information. Did I miss it?
If it's illegal, why wasn't Bill and hillary clinton arrested for the bimbo eruption squad (remember that) that did exactly the same thing?
Trump has been crying about election interference for YEARS...and here he is, caught engaging in it. I know, you just need to deflect, it's fine.
Typical CDS.
Lol. Now you are just gaslighting. It wasn't Trump who has been whining about election interference since 2016.
If I'm deflecting, it should be easy to prove me wrong. Just explain to us what he did that was illegal and constitutes "election interference". Which one of these things is illegal:
Getting her to sign an NDA? Paying money for it? Not wanting the media to discuss a story that portrays a candidate in a bad light?
This is what he is charged with... Sorry, thought you knew.
So none of those things then,. Now that you know your post was wrong, you should retract it.
The only alleged " illegal" act was a bookkeeping issue (that the FEC agrees with Trump) that took place after the election. Can't claim "election interference" for something that occurred after an election. That's not how time works.
You sure?
He wanted to spare his family from the truth
Yup.
Clinton whined (and still does) about election interference. Are you unfamiliar with election deniers like the New York DA attorney prosecuting Trump?
Wow, you COMPLETELY missed the point. Holy shit, ya weren't even close.
Lol. I'm waiting for you to catch up.
Explain the illegal act that constitutes election interference.
I forgot to add
Yes, you traitor - rigged by you, You're one big ugly lie.
She was paid before the election
Most profitable fuck of her career.
Not even close. She is worth approx. 4.5 million dollars.
I know you won't get it but.. She was paid off before the election to keep quiet, so it wouldn't affect trump's polling numbers and scare off voters. It's called...."DECEPTION". In other words, election interference by hiding information that would influence voters.
She worked the last democrat national convention. That's why Schiff's eyes are still so wide, he has never seen actual boobies before.
Thanks,
That makes all the difference.
Thanks for the nightmare
Y'all need to keep up.
It's Hard to Imagine a Worse Day for Stormy and the NYC Prosecutors in the Hush Trump Case – PJ Media
Stormy Daniels’ Lawyer Just Destroyed Bragg’s Case Against Trump – PJ Media