Michael Cohen’s texts and recordings on hush cash go beneath the microscope

Trump is staring straight forward as Hicks returns to the stand — watching a monitor as an alternative of her on the stand.

Hope Hicks mentioned she had labored with Michael Cohen on a press release to ship in response to The Wall Avenue Journal’s forthcoming story about Karen McDougal and the Nationwide Enquirer.

Hicks initially wrote issues like,“We deny each accusation,” however Cohen urged a distinct strategy.

“These accusations are fully unfaithful and simply the newest despicable try by the liberal media and the Clinton machine to distract the general public from the FBI’s ongoing prison investigation into Secretary Clinton and her closest associates,” Cohen wrote again to her, in line with an exhibit of the e-mail textual content proven in court docket.

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Hicks, a former Trump aide, simply testified about when she discovered that the Wall Avenue Journal was planning to publish a narrative about Karen McDougal, together with particulars that McDougal had a narrative that was bought by the Enquirer about her relationship with Trump that was by no means revealed.

Hicks testified that she went to Kushner, Ivanka Trump’s husband, with the story, hoping he might get in contact with executives on the Journal to delay publication.

Hicks was requested if she had heard of Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, and he or she recalled that she discovered of McDougal on Nov. 4, 2016, after receiving an inquiry from a Wall Avenue Journal reporter in regards to the former Playboy mannequin and the Nationwide Enquirer.

Daniels was talked about in that very same story, she mentioned, including that she first heard of the grownup movie actress a yr earlier, when “guys on a airplane” have been discussing her attendance at a star golf match with a participant who performed with Trump.

Hicks testified that the Wall Avenue Journal reporter, Michael Rothfeld, requested whether or not Trump or the marketing campaign knew about McDougal, who had a narrative alleging that she had an affair with Trump a decade earlier, whereas he was married to Melania, that was bought by the Nationwide Enquirer however was by no means revealed.

Hicks mentioned she thought she instructed Trump, whom she was touring with on the time, in regards to the inquiry earlier than he began talking at a rally in Ohio. She additionally mentioned she forwarded the e-mail to Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner to see if he might attain Rupert Murdoch, who owned the newspaper, to purchase extra time earlier than the story was revealed.

The trial has taken a lunch break till 2:15 p.m., when Hicks will proceed testifying.

Due to a battle by one of many jurors, the testimony will finish at 3:45 p.m. at the moment.

Hope Hicks testified that after the discharge of the “Entry Hollywood” tape, she mentioned she spoke to Michael Cohen by cellphone about one other rumored Trump tape.

She mentioned she requested Cohen to name a pal of his to ask if there was such a tape, and in that case, when might they anticipate it to be revealed.

Hope Hicks described a number of the political fallout from the “Entry Hollywood” tape, together with statements from then-Senate Majority Chief Mitch McConnell calling it “repugnant and unacceptable” and from former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney calling it “disgraceful [and] disgusting.”

Hicks was additionally requested whether or not Trump was disinvited from an occasion hosted by then-Home Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis.

“I consider we have been nonetheless going,” Hicks answered, including, “however there was a programming change and an effort to distance himself from Mr. Trump, so Mr. Trump decided to do one thing else.” 

Hicks mentioned that the information protection of Trump’s “Entry Hollywood” tape was so intense, it ended up pushing information of a Class 4 hurricane out of the information cycle.

“It was intense, it dominated protection for, I might say, the 36 hours main as much as the talk,” Hicks recalled.

“We have been anticipating a Class 4 hurricane round that point and nobody remembers it as a result of it was ‘all Trump’ within the information throughout that point,” Hicks continued.

Hicks testified that she had a superb sense that the “Entry Hollywood” tape was going to be an enormous story that will dominate the information cycle for no less than the following a number of days.

She mentioned it was a “damaging growth” for the marketing campaign, with numerous layers that “sophisticated the place we have been attempting to go in a manner that was going to be arduous to beat.”

“There was consensus amongst us all that the tape was damaging and that this was going to be a disaster,” she mentioned.

Requested for her response when she discovered of the “Entry Hollywood” tape from the Washington Put up reporter, Hicks mentioned she was “very involved,” including that she had solely the transcript and never the tape itself.

She mentioned she forwarded the reporter’s electronic mail to different prime marketing campaign officers, together with Jason Miller, David Bosse, Kellyanne Conway and Steve Bannon, writing, “Want to listen to the tape to make sure, deny, deny, deny.” She mentioned she then went to talk to the group of them on the twenty fifth ground of Trump Tower.

She conceded that her technique of denying the dialog on the tape proved to be tougher as soon as the recording got here out.