'Perry Mason moment': Hope Hicks 'broke down crying' after realizing she may have 'sunk' Trump

03 May 2024

During her testimony Friday afternoon, Hope Hicks — who was a senior advisor to former President Donald Trump — reportedly cried on the witness stand after confirming that her former boss knew about at least one alleged hush money payment ahead of the 2016 election.

Hicks' appearance in court was one of the most highly anticipated testimonies in the ex-president's ongoing criminal trial. Trump is facing 34 felony counts related to an alleged hush money payment scheme that prosecutors say was done to conceal the 2016 GOP presidential nominee's extramarital affairs from voters prior to election day. While falsification of business records is typically a misdemeanor, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg maintains that Trump attorney and "fixer" Michael Cohen buying the silence of women claiming to have slept with Trump was done explicitly in the furtherance of Trump's candidacy, which would make the payments an illegal campaign expenditure.

CNN reporter Paula Reed said that, according to a source inside the courtroom, Hicks started crying and apologized to Trump while she was being questioned by prosecutors. In the exchange, she confirmed that Trump knew about at least one of the payments Cohen made to one of the women who claimed to have had relations with him prior to the election. Hicks elaborated on a conversation the two had in early 2017, in which Trump praised how Cohen handled the matter to minimize political blowback. Reed said it was "definitely the most significant moment in this trial so far."

"Hope Hicks realized after she said all that that she had just likely sunk [Trump], made this case stronger for the prosecution, and that is when she broke down crying," Reed recounted. "This source inside, one of our colleagues said this is the closest thing to a Perry Mason moment there is in a white-collar case."

Former Trump White House lawyer James Schultz opined on a panel after Hicks' testimony that her comments may have helped the defense, asserting that the last thing jurors heard before adjourning for the weekend was that Michael Cohen was a rogue actor with credibility issues. CNN legal analyst Elliott Williams disagreed, saying that prosecutors got the testimony from Hicks that they hoped for, and the fact that they didn't question her again showed that there was little else to be gained.

While Trump's defense team tried to undo the damage wrought by Hicks' testimony, their cross-examination of the former White House communications director only lasted roughly 15 minutes, after which Judge Juan Merchan dismissed jurors for the weekend. After leaving the courtroom, Trump gave very short impromptu remarks only addressing the importance of election day, and notably did not attack Hicks despite her testimony.

Testimonies from more high-profile witnesses like Cohen and adult film star and director Stormy Daniels are still to come, and prosecutors may bring them to the stand when the third week of the trial begins on Monday. The trial is expected to last roughly six weeks, and could be the only one of Trump's four trials to conclude with a verdict prior to November.

Aside from Manhattan, Trump is also expected to stand trial in two different federal cases, as well as a separate election interference case in Fulton County, Georgia. However, Trump's DC election interference trial is currently in limbo as the Supreme Court considers his argument of absolute criminal immunity for official acts as president, and U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon — who is overseeing his classified documents trial in the Southern District of Florida — has still not set a trial date.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who survived Trump lawyers' unsuccessful attempt to remove her from the case, has asked Judge Scott McAfee to set a trial date for August. McAfee has not yet announced when Trump's trial would take place, and he may not do so until the Manhattan trial concludes.

Watch the video of Paula Reed's segment below, or by clicking this link.

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