Donald Trump makes desperate moves to try to prevent Hope Hicks from flipping on him in Trump-Russia
White House Communications Director Hope Hicks was, by all accounts, Donald Trump’s closest and most trusted political adviser. That was, of course, until everything suddenly fell apart between them, and she appeared headed for a plea deal with Special Counsel Robert Mueller. There is still no official confirmation of such a deal, though Mueller has sometimes kept these things secret. Meanwhile, Trump is now going to rather desperate measures to try to prevent Hicks from flipping on him, if she hasn’t already.
Things initially went south between Trump and Hicks when the media discovered that Hicks’ boyfriend Rob Porter, a White House aide, was working without a permanent security clearance because two of his ex-wives had accused him of domestic violence, and that the White House had tried to cover it up. Hicks released a statement in Porter’s defense which made things worse, and Trump reportedly blamed her for the entire scandal.
In that same timeframe, the media reported that former Trump legal spokesman Mark Corallo had testified for Robert Mueller that he had heard Hicks promising to suppress or destroy email evidence in the Trump-Russia scandal, which if proven, would put her on the hook for felony obstruction of justice. The Trump-controlled House Intel Committee then hauled in Hicks to try to get a feel for whether she was planning to sell Trump out to Mueller to save herself. Hicks refused to answer the most important questions, all but giving away that she was indeed running to Mueller.
The next day Hope Hicks abruptly announced her resignation from the White House. Her story largely went silent from there, until today. The New York Times is now reporting that Donald Trump has repeatedly called Rob Porter and discussed the possibility of bringing him back to the White House. Trump has never had any known interest in having Porter around or seeking his advice, and while NY Times has missed the connection, this is rather obviously an attempt on Trump’s part at getting back into Hicks’ good graces. Trump must be more worried than ever that Hicks is selling him out to Mueller.
