Hope Hicks, a former aide to Donald Trump, was called to take the witness stand by prosecutors on Friday in the ongoing criminal hush money trial against the former president.
Hicks previously served as White House communications director and was a key adviser during his 2016 presidential campaign and in the White House. As she walked into the room, she notably referred to Trump as “Mr. Trump” and said she is paying for her own lawyers.
Hicks met with Manhattan prosecutors who brought the case against Trump for several hours last year. Because she was involved in so many meetings surrounding the former president, her testimony could bring added depth to the ongoing trial. She told the court on Friday that she hasn’t been in communication with Trump since 2022.
Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo on Friday began to set Hicks up to testify about participating in hey meetings. Hicks acknowledged her role and that she was frequently involved in meetings and traveling in and out of Trump’s office.
Although Hicks hasn’t been scrutinized for perjury like the prosecution’s star witness, former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, her credibility may well come under scrutiny by Trump’s attorneys due to her inconsistent statements to Congress in June 2019.
She testified to Congress in June 2019 that she wasn’t present when Trump and Cohen discussed a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels at an August 2015 Trump Tower meeting. However, a federal court unsealed search warrant records in July 2019 that were part of the Southern District of New York’s investigation into campaign finance violations tied to Trump and his attorney. The documents showed that Hicks at least spoke to both Trump and Cohen before the start of negotiations to make payments to Daniels.
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Prosecutors will likely try to use her testimony to show that Trump was more involved with the alleged hush money scheme, though the defense will likely rely on such inconsistencies between her congressional record and the unsealed court records to suggest to the jury that her word may not be as trustworthy as the prosecution contends.
This is a developing story and will be updated.