Hope Hicks, a former aide to Donald Trump, was called to take the witness stand by prosecutors on Friday in the criminal hush money trial against the former president.
Hicks served as White House communications director and was a key adviser during his 2016 presidential campaign and in the White House. As she walked into the room, she referred to Trump as “Mr. Trump” and said she was paying for her own lawyers.
Trump’s former communications director admitted “I’m really nervous” as she adjusted the microphone from the witness stand. She also spoke highly of Trump before prosecutors delved into any deeper questions, calling him a “very good multitasker, a very hard worker.”
Before working on the campaign, Hicks worked for the Trump Organization. When asked who she reported to at the company, she said, “Everybody that works there in some sense reports to Mr. Trump. It’s a big successful company, but it’s really run like a small family business in some ways.”
She also explained how she made the transition from working for the Trump family business to working on his 2016 campaign.
“Mr. Trump one day said we’re going to Iowa, and I didn’t really know why,” Hicks recalled.
“I had no experience and worked at the company, not the campaign, so I didn’t take it very seriously,” she said. “Eventually, I started spending so much time on the campaign that I became a member of the campaign and I was the press secretary.”
Hicks met with Manhattan prosecutors who brought the case against Trump for several hours last year. Because she was involved in so many meetings surrounding the former president, her testimony could bring added depth to the trial. She told the court on Friday that she hasn’t been in communication with Trump since 2022.
Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo on Friday began to set Hicks up to testify about participating in Trump’s meetings. Hicks acknowledged her role and that she was frequently involved in meetings and traveling in and out of Trump’s office.
Asked if she was ever present for phone calls between former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker and Trump during the campaign, Hicks said, “Yes.” She noted she overheard conversation between Trump and Pecker about the tabloid’s publications regarding Ben Carson and alleged medical malpractice.
“He was congratulating David about a great investigative piece,” Hicks said, noting that she vaguely recalls Trump describing the pieces on Carson as “Pulitzer worthy,” a response that drew laughter in the press room.
Prosecutors have alleged that Trump and Pecker’s close relationship was part of a long-term plan to use the National Enquirer to run hit pieces against Trump’s political opponents while simultaneously attempting to kill negative stories about the former president, including stories involving alleged affairs between Trump and women who were plotting to come forward with their stories to the public.
Although Hicks hasn’t been scrutinized for perjury like the prosecution’s star witness, former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, her credibility may well come under scrutiny by Trump’s attorneys due to her inconsistent statements to Congress in June 2019.
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She testified to Congress in June 2019 that she wasn’t present when Trump and Cohen discussed a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels at an August 2015 Trump Tower meeting. However, a federal court unsealed search warrant records in July 2019 that were part of the Southern District of New York’s investigation into campaign finance violations tied to Trump and his attorney. The documents showed that Hicks at least spoke to both Trump and Cohen before the start of negotiations to make payments to Daniels.
Prosecutors will likely try to use her testimony to show that Trump was more involved with the alleged hush money scheme, though the defense will likely rely on such inconsistencies between her congressional record and the unsealed court records to suggest to the jury that her word may not be as trustworthy as the prosecution contends.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
