Longtime Trump associate Hope Hicks created a “nightmare” for the ex-president with her testimony at the close of this work week in the criminal trial on charges against Trump of falsifying business records, said legal expert Norm Eisen… who’s actually directly interacted with Hicks in the past, taking her testimony as part of a Congressional investigation in an earlier role.
Among other facets to Hicks’ time in court, she appeared to clearly paint a picture of worries about the 2016 presidential election amid what became hush money for Stormy Daniels, a woman who allegedly had an affair with Trump and whose funds — alongside the alleged election-targeting ambitions — drive this Trump case.
“A telling detail she shared Friday: The public impact was so dominant that the initial 36 hours of coverage [of Trump’s “Access Hollywood” tape] pushed a category 4 hurricane that was about to make landfall on the East Coast out of the news,” said Eisen, adding in his CNN article: “Hicks’ implication was that this was a category 5 hurricane — or higher. That explains why Trump and his campaign could not afford another damaging sex scandal in the immediate aftermath of the tape.”
Hicks also said in court that she did not believe past attempts by Trump to pass off blame for some of the hush money arrangements to Michael Cohen, a former ally of the ex-president who’s expected to also testify during these proceedings. “Trump appeared to nod off repeatedly, including during Hicks’ testimony about how she first learned of the Daniels story,” Eisen added at CNN, continuing: “Asleep or awake, for Trump, Hicks’ testimony was a nightmare.”
Hicks, who’s held official roles in Trump’s orbit during his time in politics and government, ultimately sounded rather forthcoming, assuming the basics of what she was saying were legitimate. Another individual closely tied to Trump, longtime personal assistant Rhona Graff, also testified, but she sounded more hesitant and halting, though she answered the questions.
