While Trump Displayed Little Emotion, Hope Hicks 'Broke Down' and Avoided Looking at Her Former Boss

Hope Hicks, a longtime director of communications for Donald Trump, sobbed uncontrollably on Friday while testifying. It happened just as Trump's defense lawyer, Emil Bove, began cross-examination and minutes after Hicks finished a particularly strong set of testimony against the former President. As reported by The Daily Mail, as soon as Bove asked Hicks how she was first brought on board to work with the Trump Organization, she broke down instantaneously.

Hicks took a few long breaths, refused to look at Trump, and returned to the platform when a short intermission was called to give her time to gather herself. During his brief 20-minute interrogation, Bove emphasized the defense's view that Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer, was operating as a loose cannon without the consent of the ex-president or his campaign when he paid $130,000 to silence Stormy Daniels regarding her allegations of their sexual encounter in 2006. Hicks said that Trump concluded it was a smart move to attempt to quiet the story before the election, despite Trump's claims to the contrary. Trump insisted he was simply paying Cohen's legal bills.

As per AP News, Hicks revealed, "Mr. Trump’s opinion was that it was better to be dealing with it now and it would’ve been bad to have that story come out before the election." In her testimony, Hicks notably said that she thought Cohen could have been traveling outside of the nation when she and Trump met at Trump Tower after the notorious Access Hollywood video was made public. Cohen also declined to attend any of the meetings with Trump and campaign officials that followed. The idea that Cohen was Trump's personal 'fixer" was also refuted by her, saying the only reason he was given the title was because he was 'fixing things' that he had damaged.

Hicks further said that she had to get to the 25th floor of Trump Tower after learning of Trump's notorious 'grab 'em by the p-ssy' hot mic remark via email from David A. Fahrenthold of The Washington Post. According to The Daily Beast, there, she discovered Trump preparing for the presidential debate with far-right provocateur Steve Bannon, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, and campaign advisors Kellyanne Conway, Jason Miller, and Stephen Miller. She added, "We weren’t sure how to respond yet. We were trying to gather information and absorb the shock of it. He said that didn’t sound like something he would say."

A criminal case against the former President is centered on Cohen's $130,000 wire transfer to Stormy Daniels. Cohen sent the money to Daniels only weeks before the 2016 election. In an attempt to increase his chances of winning the election, Trump has been accused of hiding the payments as 'legal expenses' and is facing 34 charges of falsifying corporate records. He entered a not-guilty plea and denied having an affair.