(PatriotNewsDaily.com) – Hope Hicks, who served as the White House communications director during Donald Trump’s presidency, is set to testify in his upcoming trial in New York City, as reported by NBC News. Hicks, who was also a senior aide to Trump in the 2016 election, gave testimony to a grand jury in March 2023.
The focus of her testimony is expected to be on her involvement in conversations during October 2016 with Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, concerning Stormy Daniels, a former adult film actress who claimed to have had an affair with Trump about a decade prior. The discussions, which took place on October 8th and later in the month, revolved around Daniels’ intention to publicize her story and Cohen’s subsequent agreement to pay her $130,000 for her silence.
Prosecutors are interested in determining whether Hicks has direct knowledge of Trump’s authorization of the payment to Daniels, aiming to keep the matter private, as per reports by NBC News and The New York Times.
Additionally, it’s alleged that Cohen made a $150,000 payment to American Media Inc., the parent company of the National Enquirer, to suppress a story from Karen McDougal, another woman claiming an affair with Trump, through a practice known as “catch-and-kill.”
Trump faces allegations of compensating Cohen with $420,000, inflating the reimbursement to cover the payments and including a $60,000 bonus under the guise of “legal expenses.” Despite these claims, Trump has denied the affairs and the charges, pleading not guilty to a 34-count indictment related to falsifying business records.
Michael Cohen, who admitted guilt in 2018 to related federal charges, Stormy Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, and David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer, are also slated to testify in the trial, which is expected to last around eight weeks, starting with jury selection on April 15th.
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