Things are about to get uncomfortable for Donald Trump.
Hope Hicks, a former Trump administration press secretary, is reportedly planning to testify on behalf of the prosecution in the upcoming criminal trial related to hush money payments, according to a source familiar with the case.
CNN reports:
While nothing is final until the trial, which is scheduled to begin later this month, gets underway, Hicks is one of several witnesses from the former president's orbit who are expected to take the stand. Besides his former fixer and lawyer Michael Cohen, others from Trump's inner circle around the 2016 election, including those who worked on his presidential campaign, will likely be on the prosecution's witness list.
As CNN reported previously, Hicks appeared before the grand jury last year, as did Kellyanne Conway, before Trump was indicted by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. As a former counselor to the president, prosecutors believe Hicks could shed light on what was happening inside Trump's political operation in the final weeks before the 2016 election. (RELATED: New Allegations Point To Secret Affair With Married Governor And Trump Adviser)
Manhattan prosecutors charged Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records in part to conceal a $130,000 hush payment that then-fixer Michael Cohen made to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Federal search warrants released in 2019 showed that prosecutors with the US attorney's office in the Southern District of New York found there was a mad scramble inside the Trump campaign to suppress additional allegations of a sexual nature from becoming public after the “Access Hollywood” tape was released in the fall of 2016.
At the time, Hicks called Cohen and Trump joined, according to the documents. From there Cohen, acting as a middleman, was involved in at least 10 telephone calls that day, some involving Trump and Hicks and others involving American Media Inc. executives David Pecker and Dylan Howard. AMI owns the National Enquirer tabloid.
Hicks has said that she had no information about Daniels other than what she learned from reporters.
News that Hicks is expected to be on the witness list comes as the judge overseeing the trial expanded a gag order on Monday to include family members of the court and the Manhattan district attorney. (RELATED: Appeals Court Upholds Key Provisions Of Trump's Federal Gag Order)
“The average observer, must now, after hearing defendant's recent attacks, draw the conclusion that if they become involved in these proceedings, even tangentially, they should worry not only for themselves, but for their loved ones as well,” Judge Juan Merchan wrote. “Such concerns will undoubtedly interfere with the fair administration of justice and constitutes a direct attack on the Rule of Law itself.”
Judge Merchan initially imposed a more limited gag order on the former president regarding jurors and court staff.
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