Is Hope Hicks Testifying Against Donald Trump? What We Know

Hope Hicks, Donald Trump’s ex-communications director and counselor, may testify in his upcoming trial concerning an alleged hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, according to a report.

Hicks, who also served as the 2016 Trump campaign’s press secretary, is expected to be a witness for the prosecution at the trial, MSNBC reported on Monday, citing an unidentified source who has “direct knowledge of the situation.” The Manhattan trial is set to begin on April 15. Reached by Newsweek, Hicks’ attorney Robert Trout declined to comment on MSNBC’s report.

The case arose from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation into an alleged payment made to Daniels shortly before the 2016 presidential election. Daniels has said she had an affair with Trump, which the former president has denied.

Former Trump administration aide Hope Hicks listens during a Cabinet meeting on May 19, 2020. MSNBC reported on Monday that Hicks will testify in Trump’s hush money trial in Manhattan.

Alex Wong/Getty Images

Bragg charged Trump with falsifying business documents in connection with the payment, which was allegedly made to keep Daniels from discussing the affair publicly. Trump has pleaded not guilty to the case’s 34 felony counts and accuses Bragg of targeting him for political purposes.

Newsweek reached out to Trump’s campaign for comment via email.

Specific details about what Hicks may testify about remained unknown Monday afternoon. But she has met with New York prosecutors for talks related to the case.

Hicks and Trout spent “hours” in a meeting with Bragg’s staff but did not comment on their discussions to reporters, according to a March 2023 report from the Associated Press.

Hicks at one point spoke with Trump and his former attorney Michael Cohen over the phone amid efforts to prevent the alleged Daniels affair from becoming public knowledge, according to the AP report.

She was also interviewed in 2022 by the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, in which Trump supporters violently protested the 2020 presidential results. She also testified in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into allegations that Russia helped Trump’s 2016 campaign.

On MSNBC Monday afternoon, NBC journalist Vaughn Hillyard said the question is whether Hicks will testify about “the extent to which Donald Trump was signing off specifically on these payments.”

MSNBC legal correspondent Lisa Rubin said it remains to be seen what Hicks will be like in a courtroom, noting that she did not leave Trump’s “orbit” on particularly bad terms, even if she expressed disagreement with Trump’s election fraud claims, which have never been substantiated.

Others weighed in on MSNBC’s report on social media.

“The canaries are singing. Former top Trump aide Hope Hicks to testify for the prosecution in the Trump hush money criminal case. (MSNBC),” wrote commentator Mike Sington in a post to X (formerly Twitter).

The account Republicans Against Trump wrote that Hicks’ potential testimony could be “bad news for Trump.”

“Well well well….” posted former New York Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou, a Democrat.