Hope Hicks Admitted To House Intelligence Panel That She Told ‘White Lies’ For Donald Trump

White House Communications Director Hope Hicks told the House Intelligence Panel on Tuesday that part of her job working for Donald Trump involves telling “white lies.” But the NYT says that after consulting with her legal team, Hicks attempted to clarify things by saying that she never told any kind of lies about the meeting at Trump, Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, or anything “substantive,” according to three people who attended the meeting. After eight hours of questioning, Hope Hicks refused to answer questions about other people involved in the Trump campaign or goings on in the Trump White House.

Hope Hicks Confessed She Told White Lies For Donald Trump

Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the committee, wants Hope Hicks subpoenaed just like they subpoenaed Steve Bannon after he claimed executive privilege as the reason he wouldn’t answer some of the questions he was asked. Schiff believes that Hicks and Bannon have overstepped in using executive privilege as an excuse not to talk.

“That’s an overly broad claim of privilege that I don’t think any court of law would sustain. And I think the White House knows that. This is not executive privilege, it is executive stonewalling.”

During a break, Hope Hicks and her legal team contacted the White House and then got the okay to answer limited questions about the Trump transition team.

Hicks says her job entails telling “white lies” for the president. What??? https://t.co/e5jIiO4iZu

— Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid ? (@JoyAnnReid) February 28, 2018

Hope Hicks Refuses To Answer Questions About Correspondence Over The Trump Tower Meeting With Donald Trump, Jr.

But Representative Adam Schiff was still not satisfied with the number of questions answered by Hicks. Schiff claimed that important questions had been left “unanswered.” Schiff says that Hope Hicks was involved in the firing of FBI Director James Comey, as she drafted the statement in July which officially terminated him. Hicks also put information in writing about the meeting with Russians at Trump Tower, and there is a paper trail between Hicks and Donald Trump, Jr.

Hope Hicks has refused to answer questions about the Comey situation and about the correspondence in reference to the Trump Tower meeting. Prior to this day of questioning, Hope Hicks testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee and spent two days in December answering questions for Bob Mueller.

Hope Hicks says part of her job working for Donald Trump is telling white lies occasionally https://t.co/LJ0rynsV0p pic.twitter.com/YmVGZWxtRN

— Newsweek (@Newsweek) February 28, 2018

Committee Sources Commented That It Is Against The Law For Hicks Or Trump To Lie To Congress

But CNN says that the fact that Hope Hicks admitted to lying for Trump could cause trouble for her in the long run. Though Hicks said she has never lied about anything “substantive,” many are saying that a lie is a lie. Sources who attended the meeting spoke to CNN’s Manu Raju and added that even a white lie implies intentional misleading, and it is against the law to lie to Congress, even if you are Donald Trump or his staffer.

Hope Hicks has been part of the Trump inner circle since the 2016 Trump presidential campaign and was called his “work wife” by Michael Wolff in his book, Fire and Fury, which was an expose of the Trump White House.