There is a key detail in the official transcript of the testimony of Donald Trump’s longtime aide, Hope Hicks, that is even “more incriminating” to the former president’s criminal case than has previously been reported, a law professor said on Saturday.
Hicks testified in the New York criminal case, where her former boss stands accused of committing felonies in connection with covering up hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels in order to impact the election in 2016. Legal analysts have suggested the Hicks testimony was “damaging” for the former president.
New York University law professor Ryan Goodman, who often discusses Trump’s legal woes on CNN, said on Saturday that the transcript of the testimony showed more than reports that surfaced from the courtroom.
“Transcript of Hope Hicks’ final Q&A is even more incriminating than some reports,” the analyst said. “Trump not only communicates ‘it would have been bad to have that story come out before the election.'”
He then added, “Trump also links it to Cohen hush money: ‘had Michael not made that payment.'”
Goodman also included a screenshot of the printed version of the ex-aide’s testimony.
“Did he say anything about the timing of the news reporting regarding—” the transcript shows Hicks was asked regarding the purported hush money payment.
“Yes,” she replied. “He wanted to know how it was playing, and just my thoughts and opinion about this story versus having the story — a different kind of story before the campaign had Michael not made the payment.”
There has been a lot of focus on the first part of her comments, but that last line, Goodman points out, confirms that Trump knew about Cohen paying the money.
