Donald Trump Hush Money Trial: Former Trump Spokesperson Hope Hicks Testifies
The woman who served as Donald Trump's campaign spokesperson and press secretary, Hope Hicks, has now testified in the New York hush money trial. Her testimony was quite an emotional one as she talked about what happened during the 2016 Trump Campaign when the "Grab her by the p*ssy" tape came out.
Also known as the infamous "Access Hollywood Tape," it surfaced in 2016, just weeks before the general election. Hicks admitted that she was "a little stunned" to hear the tape, adding that she had "the sense that this was going to be a massive story."
Hope Hicks was a witness to every single Trump scandal from his campaign to his presidency, and this was why she was chosen to testify. Now, she has told the jury new details about what happened behind the scenes whenever a big scandal broke.
Hicks testified that she first knew about the tape when Washington Post reporter David Fahrenthold emailed her. This sent Trump campaign staffers into a frenzy as she forwarded the email to other important staffers like Jason Miller, Kellyanne Conway, and Steve Bannon.
In her email to them, Hope Hicks admitted that she wrote, "1) Need to hear the tape to be sure. 2) deny, deny, deny" and told the jury that it was a "reflex" to write "deny, deny, deny.'' This led to the top aides having a meeting where they shared the email to Trump.
"Everyone was just absorbing the shock of it... He [Trump] said that didn't sound like something he would say," Hicks added. "I was concerned, very concerned," and stated that, "It complicated where we were trying to go with the campaign. It was pulling us backwards in a way that was going to be hard to overcome."
Hope Hicks Testified That Donald Trump Praised David Pecker on Salacious Stories About Opponents
Hicks also talked about Donald Trump's relationship with National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, who was the one who paid off the women Trump slept with and buried their stories so they would not go public. Pecker, under an immunity deal, admitted to the "catch and kill" scheme.
In her testimony, the former Trump campaign spokesperson described how Trump "was congratulating" Pecker over his unflattering and mostly-false stories against his rivals, including Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio. Hicks noted that Trump told Pecker that "This is Pulitzer-worthy," according to Forbes.
Hush Money Trial Judge Scolds Donald Trump Again, Reminds Him He Is Allowed to Testify
Meanwhile, Donald Trump has been claiming that because of his gag order, he was not allowed to testify. This claim is false, and Judge Juan Merchan called Trump out, telling the former president that despite the gag order, he could still testify.
"The order restricting extrajudicial statements does not prevent you from testifying in any way," Merchan said while scolding Trump for his usual false statements. "It does not prohibit you from taking the stand and it does not limit or minimize what you can say."
READ MORE: Donald Trump Hush Money Trial Revealed That a Tiger Woods Sex Scandal Was Also Covered Up
This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written by: Rick Martin
WATCH: Inside Trump's Trial: Chaos, Consequences, & Contempt - LegalEagle
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