Prosecutors will call a new witness Monday when former President Donald Trump‘s hush money trial moves on from a dramatic cameo by Hope Hicks, a key former Trump aide who broke down in tears while describing the hectic days around the 2016 election and reports of hush money payments.
Prosecutors called Ms. Hicks on Friday to shed light on the context and catalyst for a $130,000 payment to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels to silence her on the cusp of the election. Prosecutors allege Mr. Trump and his lawyer at the time, Michael Cohen, criminally concealed the payments through checks and business entries that triggered election and tax offenses.
Ms. Hicks said Mr. Trump mentioned the payment to her once, in 2018, while he was president.
Mr. Trump told her that Mr. Cohen “felt like it was his job to protect him and that’s what he was doing and he did it out of the kindness of his own heart and he never told anybody about it.”
Yet Ms. Hicks said that would have been out of character for Mr. Cohen.
“I didn’t know Michael to be an especially charitable person or selfless person,” she said, adding at another point that Mr. Trump felt it had been prudent to bury the story before the election.
The court took a brief break after Ms. Hicks, who admitted she was nervous, broke down in tears at the end of the direct examination and the start of cross-examination.
Mr. Trump‘s attorneys characterized Mr. Cohen, who made the actual payments to Ms. Daniels, as someone who tended to go “rogue” and insert himself into matters where he didn’t belong.
“He liked to call himself a fixer, or Mr. Fix It, and it was only because he first broke it that he was able to then fix it,” Ms. Hicks said of Mr. Cohen.
The defense is trying to put distance between Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen’s actions to record and conceal the payments. Ms. Hicks also suggested some of Mr. Trump‘s efforts to suppress information were to protect his family, a key point for the defense.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, are slowly making the case that Mr. Trump was plugged into efforts to suppress bad stories ahead of the 2016 election and had a central role in the Daniels payment. They are calling an assortment of witnesses — from people such as Ms. Hicks and former tabloid executive David Pecker, who were close to Mr. Trump, to basic custodian-of-records witnesses who are needed to submit evidence into the record.
Prosecutors will call a new witness on Monday, though they aren’t previewing their lineup out of fear that Mr. Trump will comment on them or target them on social media.
Also Friday, Ms. Hicks described frantic efforts to deal with the October 2016 leak of the infamous “Access Hollywood” audio in which Mr. Trump spoke crudely about his stardom and groping women.
She said the message, received about a month before the 2016 election, was very concerning given the proximity to the election.
“There was a lot at play,” she testified.
Prosecutors say the “Access Hollywood” tape, which launched a political firestorm, was a key driver in making a hush money payment to Ms. Daniels, who alleged she had a sexual encounter with Mr. Trump in 2006.
Mr. Trump has denied having sex with Ms. Daniels and pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records.
Ms. Hicks testified about Mr. Trump‘s attitude about the “Access Hollywood” tape, saying: “I think he felt like it was pretty standard stuff for two guys chatting with each other.”
Ms. Hicks said she hasn’t spoken to Mr. Trump since mid-2022. Yet she spoke favorably of her former boss, calling him a good multitasker and hard worker.
Mr. Trump nodded toward Ms. Hicks as she left the witness stand.
“I was very interested in what took place today,” Mr. Trump told reporters in the hallway.
• This article is based in part on wire service reports.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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