She was brought as a “key witness” to Alvin Bragg’s sham New York trial, with high hopes that she would be dropping bombs against the former president.
However, the hearing backfired on the prosecution miserably.
Hope Hicks was Trump’s press secretary during his first attempt for the presidency; she was a close advisor and had witnessed almost all of the crises the Trump administration has weathered.
She had nothing but positive remarks for her ex-boss.
“I reported to Mr Trump” during the campaign, Hicks told the jury, and she added that he is “very involved.”
She described her former boss as a “very good multi-tasker, a very hard worker.”
During the cross-examination, Trump’s attorney, Emil Bove, asked about her thoughts on Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, and Hicks roasted him.
One of the most brutal remarks she had for Cohen was about his attempt to get his hands on the campaign when he “wasn’t supposed to be on the campaign in any official capacity.”
She added that the ex-lawyer was not part of the campaign strategy but likes to keep himself involved.
“[He] liked to call himself a fixer, or Mr. Fix It,” Hicks quipped.
“And it was only because he first broke it that he was able to then fix it,”
She was also asked if she thinks Mr. Cohen “went rogue,” and agreed that the Trump campaign didn’t green light any of his actions.
The prosecution alleges that Trump sent payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels and model Karen McDougal to protect his 2016 campaign.
President Trump vehemently denied the accusations and maintained that he was not guilty.
For Ms. Hicks, she testified that Trump’s main concern was the effect of the controversy on his family.
She recalled speaking with Donald Trump on November 5, 2016, the day after a Wall Street Journal released the story about his affairs.
Under oath, she said: “[Trump] was concerned about the story. He was concerned about how it would be viewed by his wife, and he wanted me to make sure the newspapers weren’t delivered to their residence that morning.”
“President Trump really values Mrs. Trump’s opinion and she doesn’t weigh in all the time but when she does it’s really meaningful to him,” Hicks said.
“He really, really respects what she has to say. I think he was really concerned about what the perception of this would be and, yeah, I know that was weighing on him.”
When asked if she recalls Trump being worried about the effect of the news on the campaign, Trump’s former adviser answered that everything they discussed during that period was about the campaign.
She added that the former president often asks, “How is it playing?” as his way of consulting her opinion on his appearances, statements, and policies, and how the voters are responding.
Hicks was also questioned who she was reporting to when she was working as communications director for the Trump Organization. She replied, “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 discredited Cohen’s credibility and blasted his claims that he paid off Daniels right from his own pocket, “I didn’t know Michael to be an especially charitable person or selfless person. He’s the kind of person who seeks credit,” she said.
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