Hope Hicks offers dramatic testimony in Trump trial: 5 takeaways

Former President Trump’s trial ended this week in dramatic style with former aide Hope Hicks taking the stand.

Hicks served as press secretary during the volatile early years of President Trump’s first campaign before becoming White House communications director.

The two have been estranged since Hicks was found to have criticized President Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election as part of a Jan. 6, 2021 investigation by a House Select Committee. It seems like it was.

Friday’s testimony in New York, where Mr. Trump becomes the first former president to face a criminal trial, drew the rapt attention of jurors.

Trump has been charged with 34 felonies for falsifying business records. The charges relate to $130,000 in hush money paid to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in the final stages of her 2016 campaign.

The money was paid to stop Daniels from going public with allegations that she had a sexual relationship with Trump about a decade ago.

The former president’s then-lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, made the payments, which were later reimbursed through Trump’s companies.

Prosecutors allege that the money was misrepresented as legal fees to disguise the real purpose and motive of protecting President Trump’s White House hopes.

President Trump has denied having sex with Daniels and denied any wrongdoing.

Key takeaways from Friday’s proceedings include:

Hicks relives ‘Access Hollywood’ tape chaos

The trial is overshadowed by the so-called “Access Hollywood” tape in which President Trump was heard bragging about being able to grab women’s genitals.

The tape was published in a blockbuster article in the Washington Post about a month before Election Day. At the time, it was widely expected that the crudeness of President Trump’s rhetoric would reduce his chances of defeating Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

Obviously, those predictions were wrong. But prosecutors argue the tape was so damaging to President Trump that he could not tolerate the risk of further lewd disclosures, especially from an adult film actress.

On stage, Hicks said she received a pre-publication email from David Fahrenhold, the reporter who covered the story for Access Hollywood. The email included a transcript of what President Trump said to television host Billy Bush, but not the tape itself.

Hicks emailed Trump campaign officials almost immediately, noting that her instinct was to “deny, deny, deny.”

Hicks had not heard the tape and was unsure whether the recording was authentic.

She further argued in court that while the words were not what Trump would say, they were not that unusual by the standards of two men talking lewdly about women. stated in court.

Media reports after the story broke told a different story, with Hicks recalling that “it was all about Trump for the next 36 hours.”

The tape isn’t the whole story. But Hicks’ testimony on this issue was persuasive because it vividly described the human drama and the enormous political stakes involved.

Hicks gives hope to old boss

Hicks admitted from the beginning that she was “very nervous” to testify, and reporters in the courtroom said she appeared uncomfortable at times.

She was required to testify in this case pursuant to a subpoena.

Although she appears to no longer have contact with Trump, some of her testimony was helpful to her former boss.

The story here is an article published in the Wall Street Journal just days before the election that delves into payments made to former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who also allegedly had an affair with Trump. Ta. (Mr. Trump denies this.)

During questioning by prosecutors, Hicks said Trump was concerned about how the incident would be viewed by his wife, Melania.

Later, when the defense questioned Hicks, she expanded on this point, saying that Trump “really, really respects” what Melania had said. “I think he was just concerned about what she would think about this.”

This is a very important issue in this case.

The crimes with which Trump is charged are typically misdemeanors, but they can become felonies if they are committed in furtherance of another crime, as alleged here.

Prosecutors argue that the payments to Daniels amounted to election interference because they were made for campaign purposes.

But if jurors are persuaded that the money was actually paid to avoid President Trump’s personal embarrassment, the election interference element of the case collapses.

More than a dozen years ago, a jury ruled against former Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards on his claims that payments to a woman with whom he had an affair and fathered his child were made for personal purposes, not for the election. I basically accepted and walked away after being found not guilty. reason.

Donald Trump, Pulitzer Prize Winner

One of the brighter moments Friday came when Ms. Hicks recalled a conversation between President Trump and former magazine mogul David Pecker.

Mr. Pecker, who has already testified in the case, is the former CEO of American Media, the parent company of the National Enquirer tabloid and other newspapers.

In his testimony, Pecker pointed out that during the 2016 election, the National Enquirer did not exclusively publish stories favorable to President Trump. It also published negative articles about Republican rivals, including Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Ben Carson.

Mr. Hicks said Mr. Trump called Mr. Pecker to congratulate him on some of these articles, which were effectively hits.

Hicks said he would congratulate Trump on his “great reporting” and declare some stories “Pulitzer-worthy.”

Sadly for Mr. Trump and Mr. Pecker, the chances of winning a Pulitzer Prize for articles such as the fanciful suggestion that Mr. Cruz’s father was somehow involved in the 1963 assassination of President Kennedy were always slim.

President Trump will pay for violating gag order

Hicks wasn’t alone Friday.

The case began, as it has for several days, with the subject of a gag order imposed on Mr. Trump by Judge Juan Machan, who is presiding over the case.

Court officials confirmed to the media that President Trump paid the $9,000 fine imposed by Merchan, which resulted in nine violations of $1,000 each. At the time of imposing the fine, Marchan lamented that he could not have ordered a more meaningful financial penalty against Trump, who claims to be a billionaire.

Marchan on Friday corrected claims Trump had made to the assembled media the day before, suggesting a gag order had prevented him from testifying.

The order has no bearing on whether Trump will testify, leaving the decision in the former president’s hands.

Trial becomes the hottest media ticket in town

The public’s interest in this incident is extremely high. Even within the media, its appeal may be even more acute.

Two prominent cable news anchors appeared in court on Friday: MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell and CNN’s Anderson Cooper.

The New York Times reported that O’Donnell, a vocal Trump critic, was also in attendance Thursday, and that Trump “scowled at him at the end of the day.”

The newspaper added on Friday that Trump “greeted a cheerful ‘hello'” to Cooper in the morning.