WASHINGTON -- Hope Hicks, once a longtime trusted aide in Donald Trump鈥檚 inner circle, is testifying Friday in the New York hush money trial after being subpoenaed.
鈥淚鈥檓 really nervous,鈥� Hicks said while looking at the jury. She looked visibly uncomfortable after taking the stand.
Hicks appeared before the grand jury last year before Trump was indicted, as did Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway. Hicks was Trump鈥檚 press secretary during the campaign and could shed light on what was happening inside the political operation in the final weeks before the 2016 election, as Cohen says he was paying off adult film star Stormy Daniels to remain quiet about an alleged affair that Trump worried could upend his presidential campaign.
Trump allegedly reimbursed Cohen after he took office and has since been charged with to hide the true nature of those payments.
The former president has pleaded not guilty and denied the affair.
Hicks has a long shared history with Trump, starting with her time and was one of the first staffers to join his 2016 campaign. During Trump鈥檚 presidency, Hicks eventually rose to become and was one of the longest-lasting aides in a White House that was frequently marked by a series of acrimonious departures.
She thrived in an environment where loyalty was paramount, consistently defending Trump amid criticism, and the president
Hicks鈥� proximity to Trump has at times put her under a media microscope.
She in 2018 before the House Intelligence Committee about Russian interference in the 2016 election and admitted that she occasionally had to tell white lies on Trump鈥檚 behalf, according to a source with direct knowledge of her testimony.
After facing scrutiny for both the testimony and , Hicks decided to leave the White House for . Porter denied the allegations and ultimately resigned.
Hicks to the White House in March 2020 ahead of Trump鈥檚 reelection effort but received pushback for not believing the election had been stolen, according to multiple books that came out about the final months in the Trump White House.
According to reporting from 鈥淭he Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021,鈥� Trump is quoted as saying, 鈥淲ell, Hope doesn鈥檛 believe in me.鈥�
鈥淣o, I don鈥檛,鈥� Hicks replied, according to the book. 鈥淣obody鈥檚 convinced me otherwise.鈥�
In October 2022, Hicks before the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
In a video clip played by the committee, Hicks testified about a conversation she had with Trump after the election, regarding his baseless claims of election fraud.
鈥淚 was becoming increasingly concerned that 鈥� we were damaging his legacy,鈥� she told the committee.
She testified that Trump 鈥渟aid something along the lines of, you know, 鈥楴obody will care about my legacy if I lose, so that won鈥檛 matter. The only thing that matters is winning,鈥欌�� Hicks said in the clip.
reported in March that Hicks has been running a small consulting shop doing communications with a variety of global clients, including fashion retailer Shein.
An attorney for Hicks did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
Questions around involvement in Daniels鈥� payment
The crux of the present case against Trump centers around the alleged scheme to falsify company records to hide a $130,000 payment to Daniels to buy her silence. Cohen has previously testified that Trump directed him to make the payments 鈥渇or the principal purpose of influencing the election.鈥�
Cohen said he paid Daniels himself. Prosecutors say Cohen later met with Trump in the Oval Office to map out how Trump would repay him through a series of false invoices for legal services.
Trump has maintained he has no knowledge of any payments to Daniels.
Trump has that Cohen was paid a monthly retainer, apart from the campaign. During jury selection in his trial, he said, 鈥淚 was paying a lawyer and marked it down as a legal expense 鈥� some accountant, I didn鈥檛 know 鈥� marked it down as a legal expense, that鈥檚 exactly what it was 鈥� and you get indicted over that?鈥�
Federal search warrants released in 2019 showed that prosecutors with the US Attorney鈥檚 office in the Southern District of New York found to do damage control and suppress additional allegations of a sexual nature from becoming public after the 鈥淎ccess Hollywood鈥� tape surfaced 鈥� and upended Trump鈥檚 campaign 鈥� in October 2016.
The day after the tape came out, Hicks called Cohen and Trump joined, according to the documents. From there, Cohen, acting as a middleman, was involved in at least 10 telephone calls that day, some involving Trump or Hicks and others involving American Media Inc. executives David Pecker and Dylan Howard. At the time, AMI owned the National Enquirer tabloid.
Some of those conversations, FBI officials believed, were about Daniels, an adult film actress whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, according to the documents 鈥� but the substance of the calls is not revealed in the documents.
Cohen spoke with Hicks at least two other times that day, including just before and after he spoke with AMI executives, the affidavit supporting the warrant alleged.
In a footnote in the warrant鈥檚 affidavit, an FBI agent wrote that Hicks told a different FBI agent that, to the best of her recollection, she first learned of the allegations made by Daniels in November, one month later.
Hicks that the early October conversations with Cohen were regarding the 鈥淎ccess Hollywood鈥� tape.
鈥淗e was clearly motivated to do something that I wasn鈥檛 aware of,鈥� Hicks said. 鈥淣othing contradicts what I鈥檝e said.鈥�
Prosecutors have not accused Hicks of taking part in Trump鈥檚 alleged scheme to influence the election.
When Hicks testified before the House Judiciary Committee shortly before the documents鈥� release, she answered 鈥渘o鈥� when asked multiple times by Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee whether she was ever present when Trump and Cohen discussed Daniels, according to a transcript released of the closed-door interview.
Hicks also said she had no information about Daniels other than what she learned from reporters.
鈥淎gain, I had no knowledge of Stormy Daniels other than to say she was going to be mentioned in the story amongst people that were shopping stories around,鈥� Hicks testified. 鈥淭here were no specifics offered by the reporter, and I didn鈥檛 have any other information other than what was being relayed to me by the reporter.鈥�
After the documents were released, Rep. Jerry Nadler, a New York Democrat who was then chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, wrote a letter to Hicks asking her to voluntarily come back before the committee to clarify her testimony. Nadler cited 鈥渁pparent inconsistencies鈥� between Hicks鈥� testimony and the unsealed evidence regarding the telephone calls.
Her attorneys responded, saying their client stands by her testimony that none of her October 8 calls with Cohen related to payments to Stormy Daniels.
鈥淭he material in the affidavit relating to Ms. Hicks is simply a chronology of phone calls, without any information about their contents. The fact that various phone calls happen on the same date does not mean they were about the same topic,鈥� a letter stated at the time.
鈥淲hatever else Mr. Cohen was dealing with that day,鈥� the letter from Hicks鈥� attorneys continued, 鈥渉is conversations with Ms. Hicks were not about Stormy Daniels or any agreement relating to 鈥榟ush money.鈥欌��
