In tears and brazenly admitting to her nerves, Donald Trump’s former adviser Hope Hicks appeared on the witness stand in New York Metropolis, the place she was known as to testify within the former US president’s hush cash prison trial.
Friday marked day 11 of the trial, and Hicks was arguably the highest-profile witness to testify to this point.
Hicks, a former mannequin turned communications director, was considered one of Trump’s longest-serving aides and helped his 2016 presidential marketing campaign navigate the scandals on the heart of the New York prison case.
Trump is charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying enterprise data on the time of the 2016 race, associated to cash funds made to grownup movie star Stormy Daniels.
Daniels had claimed that she and Trump had an affair, and prosecutors have argued that Trump tried to purchase her silence as a strategy to affect the election. She was already beneath scrutiny in 2016 for statements on a leaked tape about her interactions with ladies.
Trump has denied the extramarital affair and has insisted he dedicated no crime. His protection crew has argued that Trump was merely hoping to spare his household embarrassment, not intrude with the election.
The trial in New York is considered one of 4 prison instances Trump faces as he runs for re-election in November. Listed here are 5 takeaways from Friday’s hearings:
Sure, Trump is allowed to testify
The day’s authorized drama started earlier than Trump even entered the courtroom, when the previous president tried to stroll again feedback he had made the night time earlier than.
On Thursday, Trump had falsely advised reporters: “I am not allowed to testify.”
“This decide is completely conflicted, he has me beneath an unconstitutional gag order,” Trump continued. “Nobody had had that earlier than. And we do not prefer it.”
However when he returned to courtroom on Friday, Trump tried to make clear his earlier assertion: “The gag order is to not testify. The gag order prevents me from speaking about individuals and responding after they say issues about me.”
Thursday’s feedback, nonetheless, remained Choose Juan Merchán’s first order of enterprise when he took workplace.
“The order limiting extrajudicial statements doesn’t forestall him from testifying in any method,” Merchán mentioned Friday.
Prosecution witnesses testify
As testimony continued, the primary two witnesses of the day spoke in regards to the technical elements of the case.
Forensic analyst Douglas Daus of the Manhattan District Lawyer’s Workplace returned Thursday. He had beforehand shared proof obtained from Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen’s telephone, together with secret recordings.
Emil Bove of Trump’s protection crew tried to get Daus to confess “gaps within the dealing with of this knowledge.” He famous that the occasions in query occurred in 2016 and Daus obtained the telephone for examination in 2023.
Then one other witness from the district lawyer’s workplace took the stand: paralegal Georgia Longstreet. She spoke about proof collected from Trump’s social media accounts, together with a 2016 submit complaining in regards to the degree of assist she obtained from ladies voters.
Hope Hicks takes the stand
The third witness of the day was essentially the most anticipated: Hicks, a former member of Trump’s interior circle.
At age 26, after working for Trump’s daughter Ivanka, Hicks was hand-picked to be her press secretary when she launched her presidential bid in 2016.
Prosecutors subpoenaed her to testify in regards to the interior workings of the marketing campaign and the Trump Group.
Hicks testified that she thought Trump “may be joking” by making her his press secretary. However she defined that she shortly traveled to states like Iowa, on the marketing campaign path with the then-candidate.
He defined that Trump was very concerned within the day-to-day media technique of his marketing campaign.
“I’d say Mr. Trump was accountable,” he mentioned of his authority over relations with the press. “He knew what he needed to say and the way he needed to say it, and we have been all following his lead.”
Hicks displays on Entry Hollywood tape
A lot of his testimony, nonetheless, revolved round an audio recording often known as the Entry Hollywood tape, which captured Trump boasting about “grabbing” ladies by the genitals.
Hicks defined that he first discovered of the recording when a Washington Publish reporter emailed him a transcript.
“I used to be anxious, very anxious,” she mentioned, testifying that she inspired the Trump marketing campaign to “deny, deny, deny.”
The tape was made public in October 2016, a month earlier than that 12 months’s presidential election. Hicks later mentioned Trump was anxious about how his spouse Melania would react.
“I do not suppose he needed anybody in his household to be harmed or embarrassed by something that occurred within the marketing campaign,” he advised the courtroom.
Hicks additionally spoke about how she discovered about allegations that Trump was having an affair with Daniels and Playboy mannequin Karen McDougal.
Daniels, he mentioned, got here up briefly in a dialog at a celeb golf event.
He additionally defined that in November 2016, the Wall Road Journal reached out to allegations about Trump’s extramarital affairs and the alleged “catch and kill” plot orchestrated to suppress media protection.
“He was involved about how his spouse would view it and needed me to ensure the newspapers weren’t delivered to his residence that morning,” Hicks mentioned.
At one level, she excused herself from the courtroom in tears, forcing a short pause within the proceedings.
Trump pays high quality for gag order
Trump was due Friday to pay a $9,000 high quality for 9 violations of his gag order, the results of a ruling earlier within the week.
However the former president paid off his high quality on Thursday, with two cashier’s checks: one for $2,000 and one other for $7,000.
However that was not the tip of the matter. As Friday’s courtroom proceedings got here to a detailed earlier than the weekend recess, prosecutors requested the decide for the chance to query Trump about violations of the gag order.
Beneath the order, Trump is prohibited from talking about jurors, witnesses, courtroom workers and others concerned within the trial in a method that would have an effect on courtroom proceedings.
However Choose Merchan dismissed prosecutors’ request, on the grounds that it may unfairly bias the jury.
