Hope Hicks, a former aide to and campaign press secretary for former President Donald J. Trump, took the stand on day seven of Trump’s Manhattan-based ‘hush money’ trial. Former Biden Department of Justice attorney Matthew Colangelo — who has a long history of engaging in partisan lawfare against conservatives — handled questioning for the prosecution.
Throughout the day, the prosecution probed Hicks on her relationship with various individuals in Trump‘s orbit, including business associates and campaign staff. Later, District Attorney Alvin Bragg‘s team moved on to the Trump campaign’s response to the Access Hollywood tape before then addressing the alleged Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal affairs.
HICKS AND THE 2016 CAMPAIGN.
The prosecution spent most of the morning establishing Hicks’s relationship with the former President, his family, and other members of his inner circle. Colangelo’s questioning focused heavily on the former press secretary’s role in the 2016 Trump presidential campaign. The prosecutor was especially interested in Hicks’s knowledge of and interactions with Michael Cohen, David Pecker, Rhona Graff, and ex-Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg.
Hicks told Colangelo that former President Trump was “very involved” in the day-to-day of his 2016 presidential campaign. Colangelo next pressed her on Michael Cohen and Allen Weisselberg’s roles in the campaign and the Trump Organization. Regarding Cohen, Hicks said she wasn’t sure. “I know he was involved in a couple of the licenses deals for some of the hotel projects and maybe some of the entertainment pieces as well, like Miss Universe pageant,” the former Trump aide responded.
Colangelo next asked Hicks about Allen Weisselberg and what campaign role he played. According to Hicks, the former Trump Organization CFO mainly just assisted with the personal financial disclosure that Trump had to file ahead of the election. When asked about Trump’s relationship with Weisselberg, Hicks acknowledged, “He was a trusted person there.”
Hicks went on to testify that David Pecker and Donald Trump were indeed friends. She noted that she joined the former President for his phone calls with the tabloid newsman. When asked if she was present for the 2015 meeting between Trump and Pecker at Trump Tower, she said, “I don’t have a recollection of that.” Pecker testified last week that Hicks had been in and out of that meeting.
THE ACCESS HOLLYWOOD TAPE.
Just before the lunch break, Colangelo moved on to Hicks’s role regarding the 2016 Trump campaign’s response to the Access Hollywood tape. The infamous video, in which the former President engages in “locker room talk,” appears to be part of the prosecution’s strategy to paint Trump as someone who participates in crude and lascivious behavior.
Hicks recalled the tape being very upsetting to Trump. “He said that didn’t sound like something he would say,” she testified, adding that the former President wanted to see the actual video. She continued, stating the campaign viewed the tape as “damaging” and a “crisis.”
Colangelo pressed Hicks further on Trump’s response after viewing the tape. She responded that the former President “didn’t want to offend anybody.” However, Hicks added, “I think he felt like it was pretty standard stuff for two guys chatting with each other.”
After the tape had become public, Hicks said there were rumors of another video “that would be problematic for the campaign.” Hicks told Colangelo that she asked Michael Cohen to look into the matter. “There was no such tape, regardless, but he chased that down for me,” she said.
THE STORMY DANIELS STORY.
Following lunch, Colangelo moved on to the Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal affair accusations. At this stage, the prosecution hoped to elicit testimony suggesting Trump was concerned about how accusations would impact his campaign just days before the 2016 election. However, that is not what happened.
Hicks said the November 4, 2016, Wall Street Journal story was the first time she became aware of Karen McDougal. She acknowledged that she had heard Story Daniels’s name once before, stating that several security guards on Trump’s plane mentioned her name in 2015 while discussing attendees at a celebrity gold tournament.
After the story broke, Hicks said she reached out to Michael Cohen. “Michael sort of feigned like he didn’t know what I was talking about,” she said.
Addressing the campaign response to the Daniels and McDougal stories, Hicks said former President Trump “wanted to know the context, and he wanted to make sure that there was a denial of any kind of relationship.” She added that Trump wanted to make it “absolutely, unequivocally” clear that he never had a relationship with Daniels.
‘TRUMP MORE CONCERNED ABOUT MELANIA.’
In the most damning moment of the day for District Attorney Bragg‘s prosecution, Hicks unequivocally stated that Trump was solely concerned about how the Stormy Daniels story would impact his family — especially his wife, Melania. “He was concerned about the story. He was concerned about how it would be viewed by his wife, and he wanted me to make sure that the newspapers weren’t delivered to his residence that morning,” Hicks said.
Hicks’s statement directly undermines the prosecution’s assertion that the financial payments to Daniels and McDougal were meant to prevent negative press that would impact his campaign. However, she acknowledged that the story concerned those within the presidential campaign’s inner circle. “Everything we talked about in the context of this time period and this time frame was about whether or not there was an impact on the campaign,” Hicks told Colangelo.
Next, Trump‘s defense attorney, Emil Bove, began his cross-examination. He asked Hicks about the former President’s relationship with his wife. “President Trump really values Mrs. Trump’s opinion, and she doesn’t weigh in all the time, but when she does, it’s really meaningful to him and, you know, he really really respects what she has to say,” she responded. At this point, Hicks became very emotional and began to cry on the stand. Following a break, Bove briefly continued his cross-examination before the court adjourned for the day.
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