A longtime member of Donald Trump's inner circle testified in his hush money trial in Manhattan on Friday.
Once one of the former president's closest confidants, Hope Hicks took the witness stand to detail her alleged participation in suppressing negative stories about Trump in the chaotic homestretch to the 2016 presidential election.
A dramatic moment occurred in the courtroom when Hicks broke down in tears as the cross-examination by Trump attorney Emil Bove began.
It appeared she started crying when Bove mentioned that the Trump family gave her generous employment opportunities.
Judge Juan Merchan intervened and asked Hicks if she needed a moment. Hicks responded in a strained voice, “Yes, please.” (RELATED: Judge Rules On Trump Gag Order Violations)
After regaining her composure, Hicks testified about Trump's response to reports of alleged extramarital affairs and attempts to suppress them.
CBS News reports:
Earlier in the trial, former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker testified that Hicks had been “in and out” of a 2015 Trump Tower meeting where Pecker, Trump and Michael Cohen, Trump's attorney at the time, allegedly hatched the scheme to bury stories about Trump, a tactic now known as “catch and kill.”
But Hicks said she was initially unaware of the deals in 2016 to pay two women, Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels, for their silence about alleged sexual encounters with Trump. Hicks testified that she first learned of the payments on Nov. 4, when a Wall Street Journal reporter sent her questions about McDougal, a former Playboy model who received $150,000 from the Enquirer's parent company.
Hicks also had a front-row seat to one of the most pivotal moments of the 2016 campaign: the release of the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape, a 2005 recording in which Trump is heard saying he could “grab [women] by the p****” and “make them do anything.”
The Washington Post first published the tape on Oct. 7, 2016, just weeks before Election Day. Hicks told the jury about how she learned about the tape shortly before the story was published, and said she was “a little stunned.”
The next day Daniels' attorney approached Pecker at the National Enquirer with his client's story. In exchange for her silence, Cohen paid Daniels a sum of $130,000. Prosecutors have stated that the primary motivation behind this hush money payment to Daniels was the fallout from the “Access Hollywood” tape. (RELATED: Ex-Media Executive Admits To Doctoring Infamous Photo Of Ted Cruz's Father)
Once Hicks left the witness stand, neither she nor Trump made eye content.
On Jan. 12, 2021, Hicks left her post in the Trump administration, just six days after the U.S. Capitol riot. Initially, she stated that her departure was planned. It was later revealed that she had been highly critical of Trump's behavior around the riot.
Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records related to the hush money payment.
The presidential front-runner has denied having any relationship with Daniels or Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal and pleaded not guilty to the charges.
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