Under questioning by Trump’s attorney, Hicks told jurors that he was worried about the effect of the Access Hollywood tape on his family. And when the Wall Street Journal published a story revealing ex-Playboy Model Karen McDougal’s affair allegations right before the election, Hicks said Trump was concerned about his wife seeing the story and asked Hicks to make sure newspapers weren’t delivered to their residence that morning.

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But when asked if Trump was also worried about the story’s impact on the campaign, Hicks responded that everything they spoke about during that time was viewed through the lens of the campaign. Trump would often asking her, “How is it playing?” as a way of gauging how his appearances, speeches and policies were landing with voters, she said.

Hicks’ proximity to Trump over the years has made her a figure of interest to congressional and criminal investigators alike, who have sought her testimony on multiple occasions on topics ranging from Russian election interference to Trump’s election loss and the subsequent January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol.

She appeared reluctant to be in the courtroom, taking a deep breath as she stepped up to the microphone and acknowledged she was “really nervous.” She later started crying on the witness stand, forcing the court to take a brief break, when Trump lawyer Emil Bove started to ask her to reflect on her time at the Trump Organisation before he brought her onto his 2016 campaign.

Referring to her former boss as “Mr Trump” and later “President Trump” when speaking about their time in the White House, she told the court she last communicated with him in the summer or fall of 2022. While no longer in Trump’s inner circle, Hicks spoke about the former president in glowing terms as the prosecutor began questioning her about her background.

She recounted how the political firestorm that ensued after the release of the tape was so intense that it knocked an actual storm out of the headlines. Before the tape became public, the news was dominated by a Category 4 hurricane that was charging toward the East Coast.

“I don’t think anybody remembers” where that hurricane hit, Hicks told jurors. Hurricane Matthew, which hit Haiti and Cuba as a Category 4 storm, made landfall in South Carolina as a Category 1 hurricane on October 8, 2016, the day after the Access Hollywood tape was made public.

Prosecutors have spent the week using detailed testimony about meetings, email exchanges, business transactions and bank accounts to build on the foundation of their case charging Trump with 34 counts of falsifying internal Trump Organisation business records. They are setting the stage for pivotal testimony from Cohen, who paid Daniels for her silence before he went to prison for the hush money scheme.

Testimony will resume Monday. The trial could last another month or more, with important witnesses who have yet to be called, including Cohen and Daniels.

One of the most pivotal pieces of evidence disclosed to jurors this week was a recording of a meeting between Trump and Cohen before the 2016 election in which they discussed a plan to purchase the rights to McDougal’s story from the National Enquirer so that it would never come out. The tabloid had previously bought McDougal’s story to bury it on Trump’s behalf.

At one point, Trump can be heard saying: “What do we got to pay for this? One-fifty?”

In a victory for Trump just as court was ending for the week, Judge Juan Merchan denied a request by prosecutors to ask Trump, should he choose to testify, about being held in contempt of court for gag order violations in the case. Merchan said allowing it would be “so prejudicial it would be very, very difficult for the jury to look past that.”

Trump this week paid his $US9000 fine for violating the gag order that bars him from making public statements about witnesses, jurors and some others connected to the case.

His attorney, Todd Blanche, told the judge they are appealing the finding that Trump violated the gag order. Blanche said that they took particular issue with penalties for what are known as reposts – instances where Trump shared someone else’s post with his followers.

AP

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