How Hope Hicks Went from Trump Confidant to Prosecution’s Key Witness

Hope Hicks was known as Donald Trump’s guardian, a calming force for the former president who stood by his side for years as a loyal confidant.

She now plays a key role as a witness in his trial. On Friday, Hicks took the stand as a witness for the prosecution in the New York criminal trial, where she testified against her former boss.

Earlier in the trial, former National Enquirer tabloid editor David Pecker testified about a conference call organized by Trump with Hicks and Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who at the time served in the Trump administration and is now governor of Arkansas. The call revolved around Playboy Karen McDougal and a deal with her to stop her from talking about the alleged affair with Trump.

“They thought it was a good idea,” Pecker testified about Hicks and Huckabee Sanders.

On the witness stand Friday, Hicks testified that he worked out several possible responses to a Wall Street Journal story about McDougal’s hush money and shared them with former Trump fixer Michael Cohen. When she began her testimony, her voice wavered and she said she was nervous.

She also told the jury about how the notorious “Access Hollywood” tape was a “harmful development” during the 2016 election cycle.

Hicks became – along with former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski – one of two top staffers during the early days of his 2016 campaign. At the time, Trump was considered a sideshow by the media, before becoming the dominant leader in the primaries and later the Republican Party nominee. Although there were several shakeups throughout Trump’s successful candidacy, Hicks always survived — an indication of his closeness to Trump.

Hicks joined the Trump White House as chief adviser. She was frequently in the Oval Office with the president and maintained a close relationship with Trump’s daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner, both also senior figures in the White House. While other aides were embroiled in infighting and turmoil, Hicks largely managed to stay above the fray.

While Trump has cycled through several key advisers who have risen and fallen in his favor, Hicks has been almost a constant. His title was senior communications consultant, but that belied his importance. Her real job, say those who worked with her, was to manage Trump. Her office was directly across from the Oval Office, a reflection of her importance to the former president.

“Hope was one of the president’s most loyal and dedicated advisers,” said Raj Shah, a former Trump White House official. “What separated her from the others was that she was among the few very experienced agents who had been with him from the beginning. The president instinctively trusted her judgment.”

While many of the members of the Trump White House were motivated to drive a policy or personal agenda, those who worked with Hicks say she had one interest: Trump himself.

But this closeness also led her to become involved in his legal matters. Hicks, for example, appeared before the grand jury last year, before Trump was indicted.

She also gained attention in 2018 when it was discovered that she was in a romantic relationship with fellow White House adviser Rob Porter.

That year, she left the White House for the West Coast and moved to Los Angeles to work for the Fox Corporation. Friends said she didn’t like being so far away from her family and returned to Washington once again in March 2020 as an adviser to the president. Her vision for the job was to travel with him and provide strategic advice — but it was the start of the coronavirus pandemic and her attention was drawn to helping manage communications for the looming public health crisis.

Hicks left the White House on January 12, 2021, six days after the deadly Capitol siege and eight days before Trump left office. Hicks said at the time that his departure was planned before the riot.

Hicks, it later turned out, was highly critical of Trump’s conduct surrounding the Capitol riot. The House committee investigating the attack later released text messages that Hicks sent to Ivanka Trump’s chief of staff, Julie Radford, in which she wrote that “in one day [Trump] terminated all future opportunities that did not include speaking engagements at the local Proud Boys chapter.

Most recently, Hicks provided strategic communications consulting for controversial fast-fashion retailer Shein, which has recently attracted attention in Washington for its ties to China. During the 2022 midterm elections, Hicks served as an advisor to unsuccessful Pennsylvania Senate candidate David McCormick, who is married to former Trump White House staffer Dina Powell.

“Hope is extremely intelligent, politically savvy and strategic,” said Hogan Gidley, a former Trump White House official. “She has an incredible ability to read people and read the room at any split second and when you’re dealing with global catastrophes or political infighting, she has a very strong skill set and ability to offer strong advice and to do so. it selflessly with Donald Trump. heartfelt interest.”

This story originally appeared on Politico.com read the full story