Hope Hicks is on the stand testifying against Donald Trump
Coming into today, there was some mystery as to who would be the next witness for the prosecution. That mystery was dragged out for a few extra hours when Trump’s attorneys spent all morning doing a pointless cross examination of a forensic analyst. But now the prosecution has called its witness, and it’s a big name: Hope Hicks.
Thus far prosecutors are using Hicks’ time on the stand to help establish that Donald Trump was directly involved in pretty much every aspect of his ramshackle 2016 campaign. This will help establish that Trump was indeed directly involved in the plot to bury the Stormy Daniels scandal, even as the defense will try to argue that Michael Cohen was somehow behind it all.
David Pecker testified last week that Hope Hicks was involved in the decision to pay off Trump’s mistress. So prosecutors are surely going to zero in on that topic soon.
Hicks clearly doesn’t want to be on the stand right now, but she’s there anyway because that’s how the law works. This is a timely reminder that if you’re a witness to someone else’s crime, you pretty much automatically have to testify against that person unless you’re their spouse or attorney.
