Hope Hicks, a former White House Communications Director, expressed concerns about ex-President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign on Friday.
She mentioned that there was apprehension surrounding the ‘Access Hollywood’ tape featuring Trump and porn star, Stormy Daniels.
During the hush money trial, Hicks informed Manhattan prosecutors that the leak of the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape had a significant impact on Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
The campaign was consumed with worry about the potential political repercussions of a tape where the former president boasted about sexually assaulting women without consent.
Allegedly, Trump paid Stormy Daniels $130,000 through his lawyer, Michael Cohen, leading up to the 2016 presidential election.
Upon learning about the tape’s existence from a Washington Post reporter on October 7, 2016, Hicks described feeling shocked and convening with other Trump advisors.
She then passed the reporter’s request to campaign leaders with the suggestion to “deny, deny, deny,” she recalled.
Her testimony included stating: “I anticipated that this would become a major news story, dominating the news cycle for several days.
This was a damaging development.
It felt like a setback that we would find difficult to overcome.”
Prosecutors summoned her to the witness stand to bolster their case that Trump attempted to suppress damaging stories about his personal life to unlawfully influence the 2016 presidential election.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg aimed to establish this connection not just for a conviction but also to emphasize the significance of the case, potentially the sole one of the four Trump prosecutions to go to trial this year.
Hicks informed jurors that Trump initially claimed ignorance regarding Cohen’s payment of $130,000 to Daniels to prevent her from disclosing a sexual encounter with him.
Later, Trump concluded that burying Daniels’ story was wise as he believed “it would have been detrimental for that narrative to emerge before the election.”
When asked if Trump was concerned about the story’s impact on the campaign, Hicks noted that all discussions during that time were seen through the campaign’s perspective.
She mentioned that Trump frequently inquired, “How is it being received?” to gauge public reaction to his appearances, speeches, and policies, she added.