Hope Hicks, former US President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign press secretary, testified on Friday in the New York hush money trial case. Hicks, the key prosecution witness, while taking the stand broke down to tears as she gave the jurors an inside peak of Trump at a time when he faced multiple accusations of sexual misconduct during the campaign.
Trump is charged with falsifying business records to cover up a $130,000 payment made at that time to porn star Stormy Daniels, who was threatening to go public with her story of their 2006 sexual encounter.
Key takeaways:
1. Hicks testified that she was told by Trump to deny that he had a sexual relationship with Daniels. She said that she had told Trump that the Wall Street Journal would publish details of Daniels' story.
2. Trump did not want his wife Melania to see the story, which also included allegations that he had an affair with former Playboy model Karen McDougal. Along with Daniels, Trump had denied having sex with the model as well.
3. Hicks said Trump was concerned about how it would be viewed by his wife. "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 the residence that morning,” she said. Hicks’ statement would help the jurors understand how much Trump was concerned about his wife knowing the matter, rather than the voters.
4. She said Trump told her that his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, paid off Daniels to "protect him from a false allegation" out of the "kindness of his own heart." “I didn’t know Michael to be an especially charitable person or selfless person,” said Hicks.
5. The campaign was affected by the public release of an audio recording from the "Access Hollywood" TV show in which Trump bragged about groping women. Hicks said Trump was upset, however, he played down the comments.
The 12 jurors and six alternates are yet to hear from the main players in the case, including Daniels and Cohen.
