A former Communications Director of the White House, Hope Hicks, testified on Friday about the chaos within Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign following the release of the “Access Hollywood” tape.
Hicks stated that the tape, which recorded Trump making disparaging remarks about women, threw the campaign into turmoil.
Naija News reports that during her testimony in the ongoing hush money trial, Hicks described the campaign’s frantic reaction to the tape’s disclosure, which occurred simultaneously with allegations from porn star Stormy Daniels.
She recalled advising the campaign’s leadership to “deny, deny, deny” after being alerted by a Washington Post reporter about the tape.
“This was a damaging development, It was just pulling us backwards in a way that was going to be hard to overcome,” Hicks told the court.
The focus of the trial is on Trump’s alleged orchestration of a $130,000 payment to Daniels through his lawyer, Michael Cohen, to silence her claims of a sexual encounter with Trump, aiming to mitigate the potential fallout before the election.
Hicks recounted that initially, Trump denied knowing about the payment to Daniels, but later saw the wisdom in suppressing the story, considering the timing before the election.
She testified that throughout this period, Trump frequently inquired, “How is it playing?” — reflecting his concern about the effect on his campaign.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is using this trial to emphasize the alleged illegal attempt to influence the election, making it a pivotal case among several legal challenges Trump faces.
The post Reports Of Trump’s Involvement With Porn Star Caused Fear In Build-Up To 2016 Election – Trump Ex-Aide Reveals appeared first on Naija News.