White House Communications Director Says Trump Knew of Sex Scandal Hush Money
NEW YORK — One of former President Donald Trump’s closest staff members said during testimony in a New York court Friday that the former president admitted to her that he paid hush money to women with whom he had extramarital affairs.
The testimony from former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks contradicts Trump’s persistent denials of both sexual indiscretion and payments to cover up any scandals.
Trump is on trial on 34 felony accounts of falsifying business records to hide the hush money. He has pleaded not guilty.
Hicks said she only knows “about one instance” of Trump admitting to the hush payments during a private discussion with her in February 2017. He told her the payment was arranged through his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, Hicks said as she held back tears.
Her testimony seems to validate Cohen’s previous accounts of the payments.
Hicks also discussed Trump’s concern that media revelations of his sexual behavior might ruin his 2016 campaign for president.
The concerns started with the October 2016 “Access Hollywood” tape in which Trump joked about groping women’s genitals, she said.
“I had a good sense this was going to be a massive story,” Hicks said under questioning from a prosecutor.
Trump was secretly recorded on the set of “Access Hollywood” bragging that he could fondle women if he wanted.
Trump said that “when you’re a star, they let you do it.” He added, “You can do anything.”
When asked about the tape, Trump brushed it off as an indiscretion that had no bearing on his political leadership. He also denied extramarital sexual affairs.
His campaign put out a press statement describing Trump’s conversation with an “Access Hollywood” host as “locker room banter.”
Behind the scenes, Trump and his staff were much more worried than they admitted, Hicks said.
Staff members believed “this was a crisis,” Hicks said. “This was kind of pulling us backwards in a way that was going to be hard to overcome.”
After media reports of the “Access Hollywood” tape, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post reported allegations of Trump’s sexual affairs with two women. They were former Playboy playmate Karen McDougal and former adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Hicks testified that when she was asked by other staff members about how they should handle the accusations, she sent them an email saying, “Deny, deny, deny.”
Other witnesses testified this week that Daniels received $130,000 while McDougal was given $150,000. Both women then signed nondisclosure agreements requiring that they not tell anyone about their relations with Trump.
Hicks testified that she dealt regularly with Trump on media communications. Her close proximity to the president gave credibility to her testimony that she knew about the inner workings of his administration.
Trump’s emphatic denials of infidelity continued during an Oct. 14, 2016, campaign speech in Greensboro, North Carolina, only weeks before he was elected president.
“These are all horrible lies, all fabrications,” Trump told the crowd in a video recording played for the New York jury. “And we can’t let them change the most important election in our lifetime.”
About the same time he sent out a tweet saying, “Nothing ever happened with any of these women. Totally made up nonsense to steal the election.”
As he left the courthouse Friday, Trump did not directly respond to Hicks’ testimony while he spoke to the awaiting news media.
“Our country is in decline,” Trump said.
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