The prosecution’s first witness, former National Enquirer David Pecker, testified that he spoke directly with Hicks in 2018 about one of the hush money deals.
Topline
Former White House aide Hope Hicks is expected to be one of the next witnesses called to testify in former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial—after the prosecution’s first witness, National Enquirer former publisher David Pecker, portrayed her as a liaison between him and Trump as Pecker sought to quash affair allegations on Trump’s behalf.Key Facts
Hicks, once a close confidant to Trump who served as his press secretary during his 2016 campaign followed by two stints as his communications director during his presidency, previously testified before the Manhattan grand jury that voted to bring criminal charges against Trump last year, according to multiple reports.
Hicks’ name has been raised in several instances throughout the trial, including by Pecker, who told jurors that he helped coordinate hush money payments to three individuals threatening to come forward with allegations of extramarital affairs against Trump.
Pecker said Hicks was “in and out” of a 2015 meeting he had with Trump and Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen at Trump Tower where Pecker promised to be the “eyes and ears” for Trump’s campaign.
Pecker also testified that Trump arranged for him to speak over the phone with Hicks and former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders in 2018, shortly after Playboy model Karen McDougal detailed her alleged affair with Trump to CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
Pecker had previously arranged a “catch and kill” agreement with McDougal to buy her rights to the story, and testified that he told Hicks and Sanders he was considering amending McDougal’s agreement to prevent her from continuing to speak about the affair, adding the two “thought that it was a good idea.”
Federal prosecutors, in their case against Cohen for his involvement in the hush money payments, alleged that Hicks was on a phone call with Trump and Cohen the day Trump was informed that adult film star Stormy Daniels was seeking to sell her story of an affair with Trump, along with a second phone call on the day after Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 in exchange for her silence, according to the New York Times.
