Former campaign advisor to former President Donald Trump and White House communications director about his efforts to debunk negative stories about his boss during the 2016 campaign. This is Yahoo News’ succinct update on the criminal and civil cases against Trump. Here are the latest developments.
What happened today
Hicks, an insider on Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign with his White House team, gave emotional testimony at times about her efforts to help Trump navigate negative stories about alleged extramarital affairs and Trump’s own comments in the infamous “Access Hollywood” Tape about his ability to sexually assault women with impunity. His comments detailed his dealings with Trump’s former lawyer michael cohenwho prosecutors allege paid adult film actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 for his silence at Trump’s direction. Her testimony reinforced the prosecution’s argument that Trump’s team went to great lengths to bury negative stories about Trump during the 2016 campaign, but she also portrayed Cohen as a “dishonest” actor, an assertion that is at the heart of the defense. of Trump.
Zoom in
Hope Hicks takes the witness stand: During cross-examination by prosecutors, Hicks made it clear that Trump, who she said she has not spoken to since 2022, was highly involved in his 2016 presidential campaign: “Everyone who works there in some way reports to Mr. adding: “I reported it to Mr. Trump” and “Mr. Trump was responsible.” After being contacted by the Washington Post about an upcoming story about Trump’s comments about assaulting women made during an off-camera portion of an “Access Hollywood” interview, Hicks sent an email, shown to jurors, in which she told other employees, “Deny, deny, deny.” Hicks then told the jury that “The tape was damaging. This was a crisis.”
Hicks also testified about her frequent communications with Cohen, particularly three days before the 2016 election regarding an article published by the Wall Street Journal that detailed alleged affairs Trump had with Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal. “Everything we talked about in the context of this period and this period was whether or not there was an impact on the campaign,” Hicks testified.
Asked about her statement to the Journal that it was “absolutely, unequivocally” false that Trump had sex with Daniels, Hicks testified that Trump told her to say so. But Hicks also noted that Trump was “concerned” about how the story would look for his wife Melania.
Hicks also testified that Trump told him that Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 “out of the kindness of his heart.”
Interrogation and tears: When Trump lawyer Emil Bove began questioning Hicks, she was overcome with emotion and began crying, prompting Judge Juan Merchan to dismiss the jury for a brief break. Hicks, who previously spoke glowingly about working for Trump, later testified that Cohen sometimes “went rogue” during the 2016 campaign and “tried to insert himself at certain times,” adding: “He liked to call himself a fixer, or Mr. Fix It, and it was only because he broke it first. These allegations are at the heart of Trump’s defense in the case.
Monitoring Trump: Two other prosecution witnesses testified Friday — Douglas Daus, a forensic analyst with the Manhattan district attorney’s office, and Georgia Longstreet, a legal assistant in the district attorney’s office assigned to track Trump’s social media posts. Daus closed the report that began Thursday about recordings taken from Cohen’s phone that included conversations with Trump about a secret payment to McDougal. Longstreet testified about Trump’s social media posts about the “Access Hollywood” tape and accusations of extramarital affairs.
What is the next?
The prosecution will resume its trial appearance on Monday at 9:30 a.m. ET.
