It’s a cliché to say that electricity surged through a courtroom — but it did when Hope Hicks took the stand Friday morning for her testimony in the election interference trial of former President Donald Trump.
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Another devastating blow came at the very end of Hicks’ direct testimony when she revealed a stunning trifecta: that, while president, Trump had admitted to her that he knew his then-fixer Michael Cohen had paid Daniels, that Trump attempted to blame Cohen and that Hicks did not believe him. She also stated that Trump felt it was better to be dealing with it after the election than beforehand. She appeared so distraught — presumably about throwing her former boss under the bus — that she then began crying.
My understanding is that his defense has basically been “it wasn’t hush money for the election, it was hush money to avoid traumatizing my wife!” Basically admitting that he paid Daniels, but only because he didn’t want her to bother his current wife. He has insisted that the payment had nothing to do with the election. But her testimony blew that excuse out of the water, and puts him in a direct path for all kinds of election fraud charges. Because if he’s fraudulently spending money for private matters, that’s one thing. But if he’s spending money in regards to an election then all sorts of red tape lands in his lap.