Speaking to reporters after leaving the courtroom at his hush money trial on Friday, Trump said he was not allowed to comment on any of the day’s proceedings.
“As you know, I am under a gag order,” he said before launching into a brief monologue railing against the ongoing criminal cases against him.
“It’s a terrible, terrible thing happening in our country,” he added. “And hopefully Nov. 5 — the most important day in the history of our country, in my opinion, that’s called Election Day — hopefully it’s going to change., because these people are destroying our country.”
The defense concluded its cross-examination of Hope Hicks, and the prosecution had no further questions.
After briefly consulting with attorneys from both sides, Judge Merchan informed the jury that court was adjourned until Monday.
Hicks testifies that Cohen tried to ‘insert himself’ into Trump’s campaign
Under cross-examination, Hicks testified that Michael Cohen tried to “insert himself” into Trump’s 2016 campaign.
Hicks, who served as the campaign’s spokeswoman, said that Cohen “wasn’t supposed to be on the campaign in any official capacity” and wasn’t looped in on day-to-day strategy.
Instead, he would often go “rogue,” she said.
“He liked to call himself a fixer, or Mr. Fix It,” she added, according to CNN. “And it was only because he first broke it that he was able to then fix it.”
Hicks says Trump told her to deny Stormy Daniels allegations
Back on the stand, Hope Hicks was asked if Trump told her what to say in the statement she gave to the Wall Street Journal in November 2016 for a story about Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels.
In the article, Hicks is quoted “unequivocally” denying that Trump had a relationship with Daniels.
Hicks confirmed on the stand that Trump told her to say that.
audio recording of Trump and Michael Cohen discussing the hush money payment to McDougal
On Thursday, the jury heard a 2016 audio recording made secretly by Trump’s former lawyer and “fixer” Michael Cohen of Trump discussing the hush money deals they made with former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who was about to go public with a story of her alleged affair with Trump. On the tape, Cohen can be heard telling Trump, “I need to open up a company for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend David,” in reference to then-National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, who paid McDougal $150,000 as part of an arrangement to bury negative stories about Trump during the 2016 campaign.
The court released the audio of the recording on Thursday evening.
Hicks recalls when she 1st heard about Karen McDougal, Stormy Daniels
Hope Hicks testified that she first heard of Karen McDougal on Nov. 4, 2016, when Michael Rothfeld at the Wall Street Journal reached out. She said she forwarded Rothfeld’s email to Jared Kushner because of his relationship with Rupert Murdoch, who owns the Wall Street Journal.
Hicks said she had heard of Stormy Daniels once before Rothfeld’s email. She said that in 2015 she overheard security on Trump’s plane telling a story about a celebrity golf tournament and that Daniels’s name was mentioned.
During her testimony for the prosecution, Hope Hicks spoke highly of Trump, describing her former boss as a “very good multitasker” and “a very hard worker” who had his hands in just about everything, particularly at the Trump Organization, before he became president.
“Everybody that works there in some sense reports to Mr. Trump,” she testified, per the Associated Press. “It’s a big successful company, but it’s really run like a small family business in some ways.”
Hicks also said that as his campaign secretary, she would “absolutely” check with him before issuing statements to the press.
Prosecutors have called Hope Hicks, Trump’s longtime former aide and ex-communications director, as its next witness.
Hicks served as Trump’s 2016 campaign press secretary and according prosecutors spoke with Trump by phone about his efforts to shield the public from stories of his alleged extramarital in the weeks leading up to the election.
She held various titles in the Trump White House, including communications director, before stepping down in 2018.
Trump trial updates: Prosecution plays Cohen’s secret recording of Trump discussing payment to Karen McDougal
