Article about affair with Playmate
Trump confidant as a witness: He was afraid for his marriage
May 4, 2024, 2:59 a.m
Hope Hicks has worked closely with Trump for years. In court, she gives deep insights into the chaos on its way to the White House. A video with lewd comments about women endangers his election campaign, and an article about an affair with an ex-Playmate threatens his marriage.
In the hush money trial against former US President Donald Trump, his former close colleague Hope Hicks was called to the witness stand. Hicks worked as press secretary for his campaign in 2016 and took on various roles in the White House after Trump took office. In her testimony, she described her memories of the political earthquake that gripped Trump’s 2016 campaign when the 2005 “Access Hollywood” recording was made public in which the 77-year-old boasted about groping women without their consent .
Trump and Hicks at a campaign rally in October 2020.
(Photo: AP)
The Manhattan district attorney’s office accuses Trump and his associates of participating in an illegal plan to influence the 2016 presidential election campaign by suppressing negative reports about candidate Trump through hush money payments and falsifying business documents.
Hicks, once one of Trump’s closest confidants, had been subpoenaed by prosecutors trying to prove that the leaked recording prompted Trump’s then-attorney Michael Cohen to pay porn actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 in hush money to prevent her from reporting to unpack an alleged sexual encounter with Trump that could have threatened Trump’s presidential ambitions.
“It would be a huge story.”
Hicks’ testimony gave jurors a glimpse into the chaotic dynamics that followed the recording’s release, just days before a debate with Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Hicks described sitting down with other Trump advisers after learning of the tape’s existence from a Washington Post reporter.
“I had a good sense that this was going to be a huge story and that it was going to dominate the news for the next few days,” Hicks said. “This was a damaging development.” She added: “This has set us back in ways that would be difficult to overcome.” After the “Access Hollywood” recording was released, she asked Cohen to investigate a rumor about another recording that could potentially be detrimental to the election campaign. She wanted to be proactive, Hicks said. But the search ultimately remained fruitless.
Four days before the 2016 election, she received a request from the Wall Street Journal for comment on an investigation that American Media Inc. had acquired the rights to a story by former Playboy model Karen McDougal about an alleged affair with Trump. Trump denies the affair. Hicks recalled how she contacted Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to use his ties to Rubert Murdoch, the owner of the media empire that includes the Wall Street Journal, to delay the article’s publication. Kushner told her that he probably wouldn’t be able to reach Murdoch in time.
Worried about how the report would be received by Melania
Hicks then reported on the conversation she had with the 77-year-old the day after the Wall Street Journal article appeared in November 2016. Trump was worried about how the alleged affair with the ex-Playmate would be received by his wife Melania. Hicks reported that he demanded that she ensure that the newspapers were not delivered to Trump’s residence on the day the article was published. Asked whether Trump was also worried about the impact on his campaign, Hicks said that during that time, everything they talked about was viewed through the lens of the campaign.
Trump often asked her how things were going to find out how his appearances, speeches and measures were received by voters. Hicks said she was almost certain Trump used the wording to express concerns about how the Wall Street Journal article could affect his electoral chances and the final days of his campaign.
No emotions from Trump, tears from the witness
Trump during several hours of questioning of his former press secretary.
(Photo: AP)
Trump showed no emotion as Hicks took the stand. Hicks said he was “really nervous.” She said she last spoke to Trump in the summer or fall of 2022. Although she is no longer a member of his inner circle, she began her statement by speaking highly of her former employer, complimenting him several times and describing him as a “very good multi-tasker, a very hard worker.” Their testimony, which lasted several hours, had to be interrupted for a short break at one point because Hiccup burst into tears.
When prosecutor Matthew Colangelo asked who she reported to during her time as communications director for the Trump Organization, Trump’s real estate company, she replied: “Everyone who works there reports to Mr. Trump in some way. It’s a big, successful one company, but it’s really run like a small family business in some ways.” Colangelo also asked her about former colleagues at the Trump Organization or the physical layout of the offices.
Hicks described the sudden transition from her work for the Trump Organization to the campaign. When Trump told her that she would be his press secretary, she thought he might have been joking. Because of her lack of experience, she didn’t take it very seriously at first. “Eventually I spent so much time on the campaign that I became a member of the campaign team and was the press secretary.”