Hicks testifies against Trump in a criminal trial in New York.
NEW YORK Hope Hicks, the director of communications and a White House aide to the Trump administration, testified on Friday in the criminal trial of the former president.
Several witnesses who have testified in front of her have referenced Hicks. Prosecutors have questioned her about her knowledge of the agreement reached between Trump and The National Enquirer tabloid management to “catch and destroy” stories that could harm Trump’s presidential campaign, as well as how his campaign handled the fallout from the stories.
Hicks has been the ninth person at the trial in Manhattan for the ex-president. Trump is facing 34 counts of felony accusing him of falsifying New York business records to conceal damaging data to influence the presidential election of 2016. Trump declares that the trial can be described as “election interference” because it could affect his presidential run in 2024 since he has to be in court each day and can’t campaign while he’s.
On social media, as well as to reporters gathered outside of the courtroom, Trump repeated his assertion that this trial was a witch-hunt. While he claimed he could not discuss the evidence because of an order to keep silent, silent, Trump declared that he was “very curious about the proceedings today.”
What are Hope Hicks? What is his role in the prosecutor’s argument?
Hicks has been working for Trump since 2014 when Trump’s Trump Organization employed her as a part of Ivanka Trump, who was the daughter of former president Donald Trump and Trump himself. Hicks was part of Trump’s presidential campaign, in the year 2015, as the press secretary. Following the election, Trump was elected in 2016; she joined the Trump administration as the director of strategic communications and later as director of communications. She left the position in 2018.
Hicks was later recruited by his current employer, Fox Corp., as chief communications officer and executive vice president, but returned to the White House in 2020 as an advisor of Jared Kushner, Ivanka’s husband, and counselor to Trump.
Hicks, in her first testimony, outlined her relationship with her family, the Trump family, both in the business world and in politics. In her testimony, she outlined the events when she first heard about the Access Hollywood tape came out, and also the reaction of the Trump campaign to the tape.
Hicks also acknowledged receiving a media request from a Wall Street Journal reporter who was looking for comments from the campaign to help with an article about the claims that Trump was involved in relations with Playboy Model Karen McDougal and adult film actor Stormy Daniels. Trump is in denial of both claims.
She acknowledged that at the time, the primary focus for Trump’s supporters was on the election. Hicks added that it would not be in the norm for Cohen to give the money to Daniels “out of the goodness of his heart,” as she stated Trump suggested to her at the time.
Hicks claimed she didn’t realize Cohen was being “charitable” and that Cohen was a “kind that wants credit.”
In earlier evidence, David Pecker, former editor for The National Enquirer, testified that Hicks was present and gone from a first meeting in August 2015 when the deal to help the campaign was signed. Hicks was also employed with a strategy and communication company that was associated together with American Media Inc., which was the owner at the time of the National Enquirer.
In testimony on Friday, she claimed she remembered frequently being in and out of meetings with Trump at Trump Tower and had seen Pecker at Trump Tower, but she didn’t recall any details about the meetings.
In their opening statements, prosecution attorneys mentioned that in opening statements the Access Hollywood tape was released one month before the presidential election.
“The campaign immediately entered destruction control,” the prosecutor Matthew Colangelo stated in his opening remarks in the opening statements, noting that Trump was informed the following day that a woman – named Daniels was set to reveal her allegations of sexual relations with the GOP candidate.
An infidelity story involving porn stars could have been detrimental to the presidential campaign, Colangelo claimed, noting that Trump would like to “prevent American voters from learning about this information before Election Day.”
In 2019, hundreds and pages of court documents were released. They revealed the exchange of messages among Hicks, Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, Pecker, Trump, and others as a result of the leaking of the tape, as well as before the agreement with Daniels.
The transactions made are 35 “falsified” business documents that the prosecution claimed Trump did. In the opening statement, the prosecution argued that Trump’s attorney, Michael Cohen submitted 11 “phony invoices” which were paid with checks along with “false entries” that were signed by Trump himself.
Trump has not pleaded in defense and claims he could only pay his legal counsel.
What did Trump’s lawyers question her about?
When asked to confirm if Cohen was a part of his campaign team, Hicks denied it in writing and said that the campaign did not have separate counsel even though Cohen was a part of statements and television appearances. She also notes that Cohen might refer to himself as the president’s “fixer.”
“I often used to tell people that he was Fixer or Mr. Fix It, but it was because he had broken it the first time,” Hicks said, prompting laughter in the courtroom.
Trump attorney Emil Bove also asked Hicks whether it was a common procedure to collaborate with the media to spread stories, for example, by increasing positive stories.
“I have been a part of one campaign, which was an excellent one,” Hicks said, acknowledging that the practice was widespread during Trump’s campaign. Trump campaign. “I would not have a job if this wasn’t a common routine.”
In response to questions from the prosecutor, Hicks also noted that when news reports first surfaced concerning the allegations of payments and affair, Trump was concerned about the news and how it could be perceived by his wife, Melania. “He wanted to ensure that the newspapers were not delivered to their house in the day,” the lawyer said.
In his opening remarks, Trump’s lawyers attempted to show that any payments to keep news stories from the news media had little to do with the presidential election and were more about protecting ones.
Who else has been heard by the jury thus far?
Jurors have also heard from eight additional witnesses, including:
David Pecker, former CEO of American Media Inc. He testified in court about negotiating agreements in 2015 with Trump along with Cohen at the time of 2015 to aid Trump’s presidential campaign by locating potentially damaging stories and then helping to get rid of the stories.
Keith Davidson, the former lawyer of McDougal and Daniels, negotiated their settlements in exchange for rights to their tales. He testified and confirmed various texts, phone calls, and discussions concerning the transactions.
Rhona Graff worked for a long time as an executive assistant for The Trump Organization. She was a witness against her former bosses about the method she used to enter McDougal’s as well as Daniels’s contacts into the Trump Organization’s database. Her testimony confirmed Trump’s contact lists.
Gary Farro, a former banker at First Republic Bank. He testified on opening accounts for Cohen, which Daniels would later pay. He stated that if he knew which accounts could eventually be used, they might not have been opened.
Robert Browning, executive director for archives for C-SPAN. He has verified the authenticity of two Trump campaign videos and a 2017 press conference clip in which Trump said that Cohen was a great lawyer. Cohen, a brilliant lawyer, and also where Trump accused women of being lies.
Phillip Thompson of Esquire Deposition Solutions. He verified the video and transcript of the deposition in 2022 that Trump offered in his civil defamation suit against author E. Jean Carroll. In a video during the deposition, Trump confirms that his spouse is Melania Trump and that his Truth Social handle, among other items,
Doug Daus, a supervising analyst for forensics at Manhattan’s District Attorney’s Office. He testified in the trial to verify the phone’s data. Prosecutors recorded a conversation between Cohen and Trump, in which Cohen was heard saying to Trump, “I need to create a company to facilitate transfers of every bit of data regarding David, our friend.” David.”
Georgia Longstreet, a paralegal working in the Manhattan DA’s office. She testified in the hearing to analyze Trump’s posts on social media.