Ex-Trump aide Hope Hicks’ testimony reveals the former president’s knowledge of hush money payments.
Former Donald Trump aide Hope Hicks delivered a “devastating blow” to the former president amidst his ongoing hush money trial, per legal analyst Norman Eisen.
Trump made history as the first former US president to face trial in a criminal case last month. Following an investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, Trump was indicted in March 2023 on charges related to falsifying business records concerning hush money payments to pornstar Stormy Daniels during his 2016 presidential campaign. Daniels alleges an affair with Trump in 2006, which he denies.
Trump has pleaded not guilty, claiming the case is just a political propaganda.
On Friday, the former White House adviser testified on allegations that Trump sought to conceal alleged affairs with Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal prior to the 2016 election.
CNN opinion piece titled “Hope Hicks’ testimony was a nightmare for Trump,” Norman Eisen, who served as special counsel to the House Judiciary Committee during Trump’s first impeachment, discussed Hicks’ testimony, claiming one “devastating blow” to Trump.
‘Hicks provided a gripping account’: Eisen
Hicks detailed the Trump team’s concerns over the damaging impact of the infamous Access Hollywood tape on Trump’s 2016 campaign.
“Hicks provided a gripping account of the impact of the infamous ‘Access Hollywood’ tape on Trump’s campaign, which in turn sets up the so-called hush money payments to Stormy Daniels – who has alleged she had an affair with the former president – that is at the center of the charges in this case…Hicks explained that the impact of the tape’s release was devastating in and outside the campaign,” Eisen noted.
Eisen says the “devastating blow” came at the conclusion of Hicks’ testimony when she revealed the 45th US president’s knowledge of his then-lawyer Michael Cohen’s payment to Daniels.
ALSO READ| Trump Media’s stock price plummets as SEC charges auditor of ‘massive fraud’, imposes lifetime ban
Trump knew about the hush-money
Hicks testified that Trump was aware Cohen paid Daniels “to protect him from a false allegation” and “out of the kindness of his own heart.”
Hicks disclosed Trump “was concerned about the story” and its impact on his wife, Melania, and how it’d “be viewed by his wife” and his attempt to shift blame onto Cohen.
Eisen concluded, “Another devastating blow came at the very end of Hicks’ direct testimony when she revealed a stunning trifecta: that, while president, Trump had admitted to her that he knew his then-fixer Michael Cohen had paid Daniels, that Trump attempted to blame Cohen and that Hicks did not believe him.”
ALSO READ| Donald Trump reveals when he will announce VP pick as his list ‘shortens’ to these 4 candidates
Earlier, Joey Jackson, a former New York state prosecutor, told Newsweek, “Hicks’ testimony also portrayed Trump as a very hands-on boss. Taken together, these takeaways would bolster the prosecution’s argument that Trump’s team would know how imperative it was to cover up another potential scandal, and Trump would be involved in making that happen.”
This post was originally published on 3rd party site mentioned in the title this site