A lawyer for Hope Hicks says that the former White House communications director is standing by her congressional testimony regarding her knowledge of hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler called on Hicks Thursday to clarify her June 19 congressional testimony regarding conversations she had during the campaign with Donald Trump and his attorney, Michael Cohen, regarding payments to Daniels.
Nadler’s request came after the unsealing of court records showing that on Oct. 8, 2016, Hicks called Cohen just before the longtime Trump fixer began a mad dash to arrange a payoff to Daniels, who claimed she had an affair with Trump in 2006. Phone records showed that Trump joined the call with Hicks and Cohen. (RELATED: Michael Cohen Court Records Unsealed, Showing That Feds Expanded Hush Money Probe)
Cohen ended up paying Daniels $130,000 on Oct. 27, 2016. The FBI agent handling the case said in an affidavit unsealed Thursday that they believed that Hicks and Trump were speaking with Cohen about arranging the payment to Daniels in order to prevent her from going to the press with the story of her alleged affair.
Cohen pleaded guilty on Aug. 21, 2018 to tax evasion, bank fraud, and making an illegal campaign contribution to Trump through the Daniels payoff. Court records unsealed Thursday showed that prosecutors handling the case also investigated whether other Trump associates broke the law regarding the payment to Daniels. They also looked into whether anyone made false statements or obstructed the Cohen probe. Prosecutors told a federal judge on Monday that they had “effectively concluded” the investigation, indicating that no other Trump associates — including Hicks — will face charges in the investigation.
Rep. Jerry Nadler arrives ahead of former White House communications director Hope Hicks being interviewed behind closed door with the House Judiciary Committee on June 19, 2019 (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
But Hicks’ lawyer, Robert Trout, issued a statement on Friday rebuffing Nadler’s suggestion that Hicks gave false testimony.
“Reports claiming that Ms. Hicks was involved in conversations about ‘hush money’ payments on October 8, 2016, or knew that payments were being discussed, are simply wrong,” Trout said.
“Ms. Hicks stands by her truthful testimony that she first became aware of this issue in early November 2016, as the result of press inquiries, and she will be responding formally to Chairman Nadler’s letter as requested.”
Hicks testified in June that she was not aware of a hush money payment involving Daniels at the time it transpired.
“I wasn’t aware of anything. I wasn’t aware of a hush payment agreement,” Hicks said.
She also said she did not have any direct knowledge that Trump knew that Cohen was making a payment to Daniels, and that she was never present when Trump and Cohen discussed the porn star.
Hicks testified that she only recalls speaking to Cohen about Daniels after fielding an inquiry from a reporter who planned to mention the alleged affair in a story.
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