Trump trial: Emotional Hope Hicks faces her former boss on 'Access Hollywood' tape, Stormy Daniels payment
Trump's former top aide was the top witness on Day 11 of his hush money trial.
Former President Donald Trump is on trial in New York City, where he is facing felony charges related to a 2016 hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. It marks the first time in history that a former U.S. president has been tried on criminal charges.
Trump last April pleaded not guilty to a 34-count indictment charging him with falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment his then-attorney Michael Cohen made to Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.
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Trump felt 'Access Hollywood' tape 'wasn't good,' Hicks says
Longtime Trump aide Hope Hicks testified that when she informed Trump's brain trust of the discovery of the "Access Hollywood" tape, there was a consensus among the staff that "the tape was damaging. This was a crisis."
"This was kind of pulling us backwards in a way that was going to be hard to overcome," Hicks said.
Hicks said she was not immediately concerned about the impact of the tape on female voters, but the concern was "quickly raised."
"Mr. Trump felt this wasn't good," Hicks said, but he didn't think it was "something to get so upset over."
"He felt this was pretty standard stuff for two guys chatting with each other," Hicks said.
At this point in Hicks' testimony, jurors were shown the written statement that the Trump campaign issued on the afternoon that the "Access Hollywood" tape was released.
"This was locker room banter…" the statement said in part.
Jurors then saw the same video statement from Trump that was played for them earlier this morning during the Georgia Longstreet direct examination.
Hicks recounts telling Trump about 'Access Hollywood' tape
Longtime Trump aide Hope Hicks testified that when the Washington Post informed her of the existence of the "Access Hollywood" tape, she went up to the conference room on the 26th floor of Trump Tower where debate prep was taking place. She said Jason Miller, Jarrod Kushner, and Chris Christie was there.
"They were practicing for debate prep," Hicks said.
"The sight of the ... five or six or 6 of us gathered out there was a signal that something was afoot. Mr. Trump asked us to come into the conference room," Hicks said.
Hicks said she read the email aloud, though Trump finished reading it himself.
"We weren't sure how to respond yet," Hicks said. "Everyone was absorbing the shock of it."
"He said that didn't sound like something he would say," Hicks said of Trump's response to the video.
"I had a good sense this was going to be a massive story," Hicks said.
Hicks says she was 'very concerned' about 'Access Hollywood' tape
Longtime Trump aide Hope Hicks said she first learned of the "Access Hollywood" tape when she was contacted by the Washington Post.
"It would have been in the afternoon of Oct. 7," in 2016, Hicks said. "I received an email from the Washington Post asking for comment."
"I was in my office on the 14th floor of Trump Tower," Hicks said.
Asked about the timing of the story, Hicks said the story was "a month -- maybe a little less than a month" from the election.
Jurors were then shown the email that Hicks received from a Washington Post to request a comment about the video.
"URGENT: WashPost query," the subject line reads.
The email detailed that the video contained Trump engaging in an inappropriate conversation about women and included a transcript of Trump's remarks.
"I was concerned. Very concerned," Hicks said about her reaction to the email.
"I was concerned about the contents of the email. I was concerned about the lack of time to respond. I was concerned that we had a transcript not a tape. There was a lot at play," Hicks said.
Hicks recounts meeting David Pecker
Longtime Trump aide Hope Hicks described the early days of the Trump campaign's press shop as being staffed by only her and "Mr. Trump, who's better than anybody at communications and branding."
She said he was "very involved" in crafting messaging for the campaign. "He knew what he wanted to say and how he wanted to say it and we were all just following his lead."
Hicks testified that Trump was responsible for the campaign's messaging.
"I would say that Mr. Trump was responsible," Hicks said. "He knew what he wanted to say and how he wanted to say it, and we were all just following his lead. I think that he deserves the credit for the different messages that the campaign focused on."
"Do you know someone named David Pecker," prosecutor Matthew Colangelo asked.
"Yes," Hicks said, noting that she first met Pecker at an earlier job.
"I reconnected with him at some point as he was a friend of Mr. Trump's," Hicks said. "I knew they were friends."
Hicks said she could not recall attending a meeting between Trump and Pecker at Trump Tower.
"I don't have a recollection of that but it is certainly possible," Hicks said.
Hicks recounted overhearing a phone call between Pecker and Trump where Trump congratulated Pecker for running "a great investigative piece" about Ben Carson's alleged medical malpractice
Hicks recalled another call with Pecker about the National Enquirer's work about Ted Cruz's father's. Jurors heard about this reporting during Pecker's testimony.
"Mr. Trump was just congratulating him on the great reporting," Hicks said. "This is Pulitzer-worthy," Hicks recalled Trump telling Pecker.
Prosecutor calls Trump's remarks 'deliberate and calculated'
Prosecutor Christopher Conroy told Judge Merchan during the contempt hearing that the limited gag order exists because of Trump's "persistent and escalating rhetoric" regarding trial participants, adding that Trump had violated the gag order nine times already.
"He has done it again here," Conroy said.
"That is what the order forbids, and he did it anyway," Conroy said about Trump's remarks about the composition of the jury.
Conroy then turned his attention to Trump's remarks about witness and former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker last Thursday at a construction site in midtown Manhattan, in which he said, "He's been very nice. I mean, he's been -- David's been very nice. A nice guy."
"It was deliberate and calculated," Conroy said, describing the remarks as a "deliberate shots across the bow" to participants in the case.
"The defendant thinks the rules should be different for him," Conroy says about Trump's remarks about witnesses like Michael Cohen and David Pecker.
Trump has defended some of his commentary about the trial as a recitation of what he sees in media coverage. But Conroy said that Trump's rhetoric carries an "air of menace that is substantially different" than a news report.
"He places this process and proceeding here in jeopardy," Conroy said,