Selected Testimony of Hope Hicksin the Donald Trump "Hush Money" Trial
Hicks testifies about Trump call to David Pecker congratulating Pecker over National Enquirer stories attacking his opponents (Transcript, pp. 2143-44):
Q. So you were aware that Mr. Pecker and Mr. Trump had a relationship?
A. I knew they were friends, yes.
Q. And how did you become aware of that relationship? How did you become aware they were friends?
A. I don't recall specifically, but at some point I realized that.
Q. You testified earlier that as part of your job, you were sometimes in and out of Mr. Trump's office when he was having other meetings; is that right?
A. Yes.
Q. Were you ever in and out of his office when Mr. Pecker was meeting with Mr. Trump in Trump Tower?
A. I don't have a recollection of that, but it's certainly possible.
Q. You have seen him in Trump Tower before, Mr. Pecker?
A. Yes.
Q. During the campaign, were you ever present for any phone calls between Mr. Trump and Mr. Pecker?
A. Yes.
Q. Can you describe those phone calls?
A. One of them was, I think, shortly after the National Enquirer published a piece about Ben Carson, and I just overheard a conversation between Mr. Trump and Mr. Pecker, who was on speaker phone, and Mr. Trump was congratulating him on the great reporting.
October 2015 National Enquirer story about Dr. Ben Carson
Q. What was the article about Dr. Carson about?
A. Medical malpractice.
Q. Did you hear Mr. Trump say anything in particular on this phone call with Mr. Pecker?
A. I think he was just congratulating David on a great investigative piece. You know, sometimes he would say things like, "This is Pulitzer worthy." I kind of recall vaguely that
is something that he said.
Q. Was that the only time you heard or were present for a phone call between Mr. Trump and Mr. Pecker in this time period?
A. It's the most vivid recollection of everything I have. I think a similar conversation took place sometime a few months later, also just praising some of the reporting that the National Enquirer was doing. I think maybe around the time there was a story about Ted Cruz.
Q. Do you recall what the coverage about Senator Cruz involved?
A. I think it was something about how his father may have been involved with Lee Harvey Oswald, or something like that.
Q. What, if anything, did you hear Mr. Trump say during that phone call?
A. Nothing remarkable. Just similar to what he had said the last time I had overheard a conversation; great reporting.
Hicks testifies about Trump’s and the Trump Campaign’s reaction to the release of the Access Hollywood tape (transcript, 2149-2161):
Q. When did you receive the email [from the Washington Post, asking for a comment on the just-released Access Hollywood tape]?
A. 1:29 p.m [on October 7, 2016].
Q. What is the subject of the email?
A. "Urgent, Washington Post Query."
MR. COLANGELO: Can we display the third paragraph of this email, beginning "in the video." Can we zoom in on that portion, please. (Displayed.)
Q. Taking a look at that paragraph that should be displayed on your screen. Beginning "in the video," what does the email describe?
A. Just a video where Mr. Trump and Billy Bush are having an inappropriate conversation about a woman.
Q. And does Mr. Fahrenthold also say in this paragraph that he is sending you a transcript of the tape?
A. Yes, it was included in the email.
MR. COLANGELO: So if we can take that down, zoom out, and scroll down and enlarge the portion that begins "Here's the transcript." (Displayed.)
Q. Is that the transcript that you are referring to?
A. Yes.
Q. Can you take a minute and read it just to yourself and let me know when you are done reading it.
A. I finished it.
MR. COLANGELO: Can we go to the next page, please. Can we zoom in on the first half of that page. (Displayed.)
Q. And can you read that to yourself and let us know when you are done.
A. I'm good.
Q. Okay. Let me ask you, have you had an occasion to review this email before testifying today?
A. Yes.
Q. Have you seen or heard the Access Hollywood tape as well?
A. Yes.
Q. Does this transcript reflect the content of the tape?
A. Yes.
Q. What was your first reaction when you received this email?
A. I was concerned, very concerned. Yeah, I was concerned about the contents of the email. I was concerned about the lack of time to respond. I was concerned that we had a transcript, but not a tape. There were a lot of -- there was a lot at play.
Q. Did you also forward the email to anyone else in the campaign?
A. I did.
MR. COLANGELO: Can we redisplay People's 218, showing only from the bottom of Page 1 to the top of Page 2, showing the forwarding message, without showing anything before, above the forwarding, please. (Displayed.)
Q. Is that the email that you forwarded?
A. Yes.
Q. Who did you send it too?
A. I sent it to other campaign leadership.
Q. Did that include Jason Miller, David Bossie?
A. Yes.
Q. Can you tell us who else you sent it to?
A. Jason Miller, Jason, Kellyanne Conway and Stephen Bannon.
Q. Who is Kellyanne Conway?
A. She was the campaign manager.
Q. Who is Stephen Bannon?
A. He was sort of a co-campaign manager.
Q. Who is Jason Miller?
A. He was helping with the communications.
Q. Who is David Bossie?
A. I don't know what his title was, but he was helpful, like almost like a Political Director.
Q. And in the email you forwarded, did you write, "Need to hear the tape, one, need to hear the tape to be sure; two, deny, deny, deny?"
A. It's a reflex. I, obviously, was a little shocked and not realizing that the entirety of the transcript was in the email. So strategy number two was going to be a little more difficult. But, yes, that is an email that I sent.
Q. Did you mean a little more difficult because it's hard to deny a tape when there is a full transcript of it that you already have?
MR. BOVE: Objection.
THE COURT: Sustained.
MR. COLANGELO: Withdrawn.
Q. Did you do anything else after you sent that message?
A. I went to find the group who was on a different floor and talked to them.
Q. What floor was the group on that you went to speak with further?
A. They were on the 25th floor.
Q. Who was present when you went upstairs to the 25th floor?
A. Jason, Kellyanne, Stephen was there. I believe Jared Kushner was there. I believe Stephen Miller was there. Maybe Chris Christie. The whole group, they were practicing for a debate prep.
Q. Was Jeff Sessions also present for the debate prep?
A. Jeff was there that day at some point. I can't remember if he was there when I went upstairs or if he came a little later, but I do remember seeing him that day.
Q. Where on the 25th floor was the debate prep taking place?
9 A. In the conference room.
Q. Can you tell the jury a little bit more about what happened when you went upstairs?
A. It's a glass conference room. When I get off the elevator, there is sort of a waiting area, but you can see into the conference room, and everyone can see out of the conference room. So I motioned for Jason, a couple of people I sent the email to come out and speak to me, to try not to disrupt the debate prep. And, obviously, the sight of the six of us kind of gathered, five or six of us gathered out there, was a sign that, you know, something was afoot. And Mr. Trump asked us to come into the conference room at some point and share with him what we were discussing.
Q. Tell the jury what happened next?
A. You know, I shared the email with Mr. Trump. Sort of verbally, and we were at the time -- based on the conversation outside the conference room, trying to get a copy of the audio or the tape to assess the situation further. We weren't sure how to respond yet. We were kind of just trying to gather more information and everyone was observing the shock of it.
Q. When you say "you shared the content verbally," did you read Mr. Trump the email you received from Mr. Fahrenthold?
A. I read him the email and I have a vague recollection of starting to read the transcript. And then he finished reading it himself, I believe.
Q. Did you hand him the email for him to read?
A. Yes, that's my recollection.
Q. And what, if anything, did he say?
A. He said that that didn't sound like something he would say.
Q. Did he ask to see the actual tape?
A. Yes.
Q. At some point, did Mr. Fahrenthold send you the actual video?
A. This is where it gets as little fuzzy; I can't remember if we saw the video before it was published or not. Obviously, we saw the tape in a matter of minutes, whether it was from the reporter directly or when his story posted shortly thereafter.
Q. So at some point you saw the video. Were you with Mr. Trump when at that happened?
A. Yes.
Q. Was Mr. Trump upset?
A. Yes. Yes, he was.
Q. Fair to say he was as mad as you've ever seen him?
MR. BOVE: Objection, Judge.
THE COURT: Sustained.
Q. What was your first reaction when you heard the tape?
A. Just a little stunned. Just -- it's hard to describe. It's hard to describe. Yeah, it was definitely concerning, and I had, you know, a good sense that this was going to be a massive story and sort of dominate the news cycle for the next several days at least.
Q. Were you concerned about the effect it would have on the campaign?
A. Yes, it was a damaging development.
Q. Why was it a damaging development?
A. It just didn't feel like the kind of -- it just didn't feel like the kind of story -- it, obviously, wasn't helpful. But there were a lot of layers to it that complicated where we were trying to go with the campaign. This was kind of pulling us backwards in a way that was going to be hard to overcome.
Q. In those initial conversations with Mr. Trump and other campaign staff, did anyone else in the group express concern that the tape would be damaging?
A. Yes, I think there was consensus among us all that the tape was damaging and this was a crisis.
Q. Were you concerned at the time about the effect that that Access Hollywood tape would have on the female voters?
A. In that moment, no. You know, maybe a couple of hours later something that crossed my mind, maybe the next day. But just trying to get your bearings in a moment like that, there is a lot going on. Not in that moment, but certainly eventually that was something that was raised.
Q. At some point, did the conversation turn to how the campaign should respond?
A. Yes.
Q. Tell the jury a little bit more about that discussion?
A. I don't really have a strong recollection of that conversation. But, you know, I know Mr. Trump felt like this wasn't good. But it was also just like two guys talking privately, locker room talk. It wasn't anything to get so upset over. Certainly he didn't want to offend anybody, but I think he felt like this was like pretty standard stuff for two guys chatting with each other.
Q. And so, as you developed an initial campaign response, did Mr. Trump have thoughts on what that initial campaign response should be?
A. He did. He always liked to weigh in on responses.
Q. Did you prepare a short written statement in response?
A. The campaign put out a short statement. I can't remember who prepared it, but Mr. Trump definitely had input on it. We were all working together in the conference room.
MR. COLANGELO: Can we display for the witness, counsel and the Court only People's 313. Can you zoom in so the witness can see the middle of that page. (Displayed.)
Q. Do you recognize this document?
A. Yes.
Q. What is this document?
A. It was the first statement that we put out in response to the tape.
Q. Is that the statement that you just mentioned as the initial response?
A. Yes.
Q. And where is the statement -- where was the statement posted?
A. I presume on the campaign website and any other channels.
MR. COLANGELO: Can you back up a little bit, please, and show us --
Q. Does that help you identify where that statement was posted?
A. It was on the website.
MR. COLANGELO: I offer People's 313 into evidence.
MR. BOVE: No objection.
THE COURT: People's 313 is accepted into evidence. (Whereupon, People's Exhibit 313 was received into evidence.)
MR. COLANGELO: Please go ahead and display that publicly. (Displayed.)
Q. Ms. Hicks, is this the written statement that you just mentioned?
A. Yes.
Q. When was it issued?
A. Sometime in the afternoon. If I got the query at 1:30, the story was being posted by 3:30. I think it went out sometime between 3:30 and 4 o'clock, if I had to guess.
Q. Can you read the statement, please.
A. Sure. It says: "This was locker room banter. A private conversation that took place many years ago. Bill Clinton has said far worse to me on the golf course. Not even close. I apologize to anyone who is offended."
Q. Did you also record and release a short video later that day?
A. Yes, the campaign did.
MR. COLANGELO: That video is in evidence as People's 407A. Can we go ahead and display that video and play the first part. (Whereupon, the referred-to-video was played in open court.)
Q. Is that the first portion of the video statement that you just mentioned?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you participate in drafting or filming that statement?
A. I was present, yes.
MR. COLANGELO: Can we play the last portion of the video, please. (Whereupon, the referred-to-video was played in open court.)
Q. Now, Ms. Hicks, does this draw distinction between his own words and the actions of other people?
A. Yes.
Q And the initial statement we just looked at, People's 313, that also referred to the Access Hollywood tape as "banter"?
A Yes.
Q Is it correct that those two statements reflect Mr. Trump's understanding as to the right response strategy to the video, initially?
A Sorry. Can you repeat that?
Q Sure. Did you have an understanding, from the written statement and the video, that Mr. Trump believed it was important to distinguish between words and behavior?
A Um, I don't remember thinking that at the time, but I don't think it's incorrect.
Q Okay. And around that time, did you also discuss -- withdrawn. You mentioned that you anticipated that there would be an immediate and significant media reaction; right?
A Yes.
Q What was the immediate media response?
A It was intense. It dominated coverage for, you know, I would say the 36 hours leading up to the debate. Um, there was a -- at the time I got the email in the office at 1:30 in the afternoon on Friday, we were anticipating a Category 4 hurricane making landfall somewhere on the East Coast, and I don't think anybody remembers where or when that hurricane made landfall. It was all Trump, all the time, for the next 36 hours.
Q The Access Hollywood pushed the hurricane off the news?
A Yes.
Q You testified earlier that, during the campaign, you stayed informed about what other political leaders were saying about Mr. Trump's candidacy; is that right?
A Yes.
Q Did any prominent Republicans condemn Mr. Trump's behavior on the Access Hollywood tape?
A Yes.
Q Can you describe any of those statements that you remember?
A Um, Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney, you know, sort of the usual. Anytime, if there was anything remotely controversial, the group that felt they had to weigh in would come out and give statements. Um, it's pretty standard. But, these were particularly, um, you know, sharply-worded statements.
Q Who is Paul Ryan?
A At the time, he was the Speaker of the House. . . .
Hope Hicks testifies about Trump tweets and the campaign’s reaction to a Wall Street Journal story about attempts to buy and kill stories of Trump’s affairs with Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels (Nov. 4, 2016) (Transcript, pp. 2174-2180):
Q Can you please read what Mr. Trump said in the tweet?
A "Nothing ever happened with any of these women. Totally made up nonsense to steal the election. Nobody has more respect for women than me!"
Q Are you familiar with this tweet?
A Yes.
Q Were you aware of it at the time?
A Yes.
Q Can you please read what Mr. Trump said in this tweet?
A "Polls close, but can you believe I lost large numbers of women voters based on made up events that never happened. Media rigging election!"
MR. COLANGELO: One more. Can we show People's 407 in evidence, and zoom in for the witness. (Whereupon, an exhibit is shown on the screens.)
Q Are you familiar with this tweet?
A Yes.
Q Were you aware of it at the time?
A Yes.
Q Can you please read what Mr. Trump said in this tweet?
A "Can't believe these totally phony stories, 100 percent made up by women, many already proven false, and pushed big time by press, have impact!"
Q Have you ever heard of someone named Karen McDougal?
A Yes.
Q When did you first hear the name Karen McDougal?
A November 4, 2016.
Q And in what context did you first hear the name Karen McDougal?
A I received an inquiry from a reporter at The Wall Street Journal, um, asking questions about her and, um, the National Enquirer.
Q Who was the reporter you heard from?
A Michael Rothfeld.
Q Have you ever heard of someone named Stormy Daniels?
A Um, she was mentioned in the same story, the November 4, 2016 story. And I had heard of her one other time before that.
Q What's the other time before that that you had first heard Stormy Daniels?
A Um, a year prior, November 2015. Um, Mr. Trump and some security guys on the plane were telling a story about a celebrity golf tournament and some of the participants in the tournament, and her name came up. Um, she was there with one of the other participants that Mr. Trump had played with that day, was my understanding of the story.
Q Where were you during that conversation?
A We were on one of Mr. Trump's planes.
Q Now, you mentioned that you first heard of Karen McDougal when the Wall Street Journal reached out about an article that you said was being published; is that right?
A Uh-huh.
Q Where were you when you first heard about the potential article of The Wall Street Journal?
A Also on Mr. Trump's plane. I think we had just landed in Ohio. And, Mr. Trump was gonna get off the plane and do a hangar rally where, you know, we don't travel anywhere. He just does a rally on the tarmac of the airport sometimes, with the airport hanger as a cover for the audience. So, we just landed in Ohio. He was gonna go start the rally. And I had received the email just as we were landing.
Q You mentioned an email. Is that how Mr. Rothfeld contacted you?
A Yes.
Q What did you learn from that email about the story he was reporting about?
A I think it outlined that there was a woman named Karen McDougal who had a story, um, that was purchased by the National Enquirer but was never published. And, um, he was asking if we, the Trump campaign, or Mr. Trump knew anything about that.
MR. COLANGELO: Can we show for the witness, Counsel, and the Court only, the document that's been marked People's 316, please? (Whereupon, the exhibit is shown on the aforementioned parties' screens.)
Q Take a look at that document, and let me know if you recognize it. (Whereupon, the witness reviews the exhibit on her screen.)
A I do.
Q What is this document?
A The original email to me. My response, asking the reporter to hold; saying that, you know, I just got his email.
Q I'm sorry to interrupt you. Before you tell me the substance, can you just describe what this is, that the display on the screen is, without reading any content, please?
A Oh. It's just an inquiry, a press inquiry.
Q Is this the email from Mr. Rothfeld to you?
A Yes.
Q That you received on November 4th?
A Yes. Yes.
MR. COLANGELO: I offer People's 316 into evidence.
MR. BOVE: No objection.
THE COURT: 316 is accepted into evidence. (Whereupon, the exhibit is received in evidence.)
MR. COLANGELO: Please go ahead and display 316 publicly. (Whereupon, the exhibit is shown on the screens.)
Q Now, Ms. Hicks, you can describe the email. Is this the email you mentioned receiving on November 4th?
A Yes.
MR. COLANGELO: Let's blow up the middle of the page, starting with the line where Mr. Rothfeld's name appears.
Q If you need a minute, go ahead and read that.
A Do you want me to read it out loud?
Q No. Just read it to yourself, please. (Whereupon, the witness reviews the exhibit on her screen.)
MR. COLANGELO: Can we highlight the first paragraph?
Q Is this -- withdrawn. You testified that the first time you heard the name Karen McDougal was when a reporter from the Wall Street Journal mentioned it; is that right?
A That's right.
Q Is this the message that you're referring to?
A Yes.
Q And that's the reference to Karen McDougal? That's the first time that you heard her name?
A Yes.
Q Who was with you when you received the email?
A Um, again, a small number of people in the plane, um, and -- and most of them deplane very quickly to get to the rally. So, I was sort of dealing with this by myself on the plane while the rally was taking place.
Q Okay. Did you tell Mr. Trump about this inquiry from The Wall Street Journal before he began speaking at the rally?
A I believe I did, yes, just because I was worried about -- I was worried about not having enough time to respond while he was speaking, so I did let him know that we had received an inquiry, um, and -- and that I was gonna try to chase down some answers.
2 Q After that, what did you do to chase down some answers?
A Um, I believe I forwarded the email to Jared Kushner. I wanted to loop him in because he was sort of overseeing a lot of the campaign operations at this point. And, two, he had a very good relationship with Rupert Murdoch, and I was hoping to see if we could buy a little extra time to deal with this . . . .
Hicks testifies about contacts with David Pecker and Michael Cohen concerning the Wall Street Journal story about the campaign buying the stories of McDougal and Daniels (Transcript, pp. 2182-2189):
Q. When you called Mr. Pecker's office, did you, ultimately, reach him?
A I believe so.
Q And what did you speak with him about?
A Um, just asked what was going on; um, why was I receiving this email. Um. And he explained that, um, Karen McDougal was paid for magazine covers and fitness columns, and that it was all very legitimate, that that's what the contract was for.
Q That's what Mr. Pecker explained to you on November 4th, when you called him?
A That's right.
Q Had you had discussions with Mr. Pecker before that date having anything to do with Karen McDougal?
A Never.
Q You also mentioned you reached out to Michael Cohen; is that right?
A Yes.
Q Did you end up speaking with him?
A Yes. I believe I spoke with Michael before I spoke to Mr. Pecker.
Q And what did Mr. Cohen say?
A Um, I -- I don't really remember. Um, but there was a reason I called David next. I think Michael sort of -- feigned like he didn't -- he didn't know what I was talking about and that we should connect with David to get more information.
Q Did you begin drafting a response from the campaign to respond to The Wall Street Journal reporter?
A I did.
Q Did you share that draft response with anyone before sending it to The Wall Street Journal?
A I sent it to Michael first, just to get his input, while Mr. Trump was still on stage. And then, when Mr. Trump came off -- came on the plane from the rally, I shared it with him as well.
Q And when you say you "shared it with him as well", you're referring to sharing it with Mr. Trump as well?
A Yes.
Q After you sent it to Mr. Cohen; is that right?
A Yes.
MR. COLANGELO: Let's display just for the witness, Counsel, and the Court a document marked for identification as People's 318. (Whereupon, the aforementioned parties are shown the exhibit on their screens.)
Q Once you review that, let me know if you recognize that document.
A I do.
Q What is it?
A It's a draft statement sent to Michael, and Michael's response back with his edited version.
MR. COLANGELO: People's 318 into evidence.
MR. BOVE: No objection.
THE COURT: 318 accepted into evidence. (Whereupon, the exhibit is received in evidence.)
MR. COLANGELO: Let's display that for everybody. And let's zoom in on the initial message at the bottom of the page. (Whereupon, the exhibit is shown on the screens.)
Q Can you tell the jury what this message shows?
A These are draft responses that I shared with Michael.
Q And, you sent this from your campaign email account to Mr. Cohen at the Trump Organization; is that right?
19 A Yes.
Q And now, let me direct your attention to the top of the page.
MR. COLANGELO: Let's zoom in on Mr. Cohen's reply. (Whereupon, an exhibit is shown on the screens.)
Q Can you go ahead and read what Mr. Cohen said in response?
A He suggested that: "Say these accusations are completely untrue and just the latest despicable attempt by the liberal media and the Clinton machine to distract the public 5 from the FBI's ongoing criminal investigation into Secretary Clinton and her closest associates."
Q After sending this draft message to Mr. Cohen and getting his response, did you speak to him further about it?
A I don't remember, but I'm sure that we did speak.
Q You mentioned after the rally you also spoke to Mr. Trump about the potential statement; is that right?
A Yes.
Q Tell us about that conversation.
A He wanted to have an understanding of what was going on as well. I believe we called Mr. Pecker's office back. I was relaying what Mr. Pecker had said to me about this being, you know, a legitimate contract for a woman that was going to provide them content, magazine content. And he wanted to hear that from David as well. And, so, I believe I have a recollection of us calling David, David repeating that to Mr. Trump. And sometime after that conversation, Mr. Trump wanted to -- he didn't want to use the statements that we had drafted. He wanted to draft his own statement.
Q And so, in that conversation you just testified about, he wanted to hear what Mr. Pecker's statement to The Wall Street Journal would be?
A He wanted to have an understanding of what David had told me previously.
Q Did that include what Mr. Pecker told you about what the explanation would be?
A It included his explanation for that; that this was a legitimate contract, and that's what they planned to tell The Journal.
Q You said Mr. Trump then had input into the statement; is that right?
A Yes.
Q Did he ask you to include anything in the comment to the reporter?
A Um, I think we -- we changed the statement not to include almost any of what you just saw; and it was just the -- a denial and -- of the accusations and a statement that they were totally untrue and that we didn't know anything about this, this deal.
Q Going back to the email you received from The Wall Street Journal reporter, did it mention any other women in addition to Karen McDougal?
A The story was also going to mention Stephanie Clifford, Stormy Daniels, one in the same.
Q So, you understand Stephanie Clifford and Stormy Daniels to be the same person?
A Yes.
Q How did you come to learn that this story would also mention Stormy Daniels?
A The reporter told me on the phone.
Q Did you then, after learning that Stormy Daniels would be in the story, did you have any discussions with Mr. Cohen about Stormy Daniels?
A I believe I did. I'm very fuzzy about this point, but I believe I spoke to him.
Q Did you mention to Mr. Trump that Stormy Daniels would 14 be mentioned in the story?
A Yes.
Q What, if anything, did he say when you told him that Stormy Daniels would be mentioned in The Wall Street Journal story?
A He wanted to know the context, um, and he wanted to make sure that there was a denial of any kind of relationship.
Q And, did you believe that denying the existence of a relationship was responsive to the reporting?
A I felt the point of the story was that -- that the National Enquirer paid a woman for her story and never published it. It wasn't necessarily about accusations of, you know, certain behavior . . . .
Hope Hicks testifies about the campaign’s response to the Wall Street Journal story (Transcript, pp. 2195-2199):
Q Can you go ahead and read that highlighted passage [from the WSJ story] into evidence, please, into the record?
A Sure. It says: "Hope Hicks, a Trump campaign spokeswoman, said of the agreement with Ms. McDougal, quote, We have no knowledge of any of this. She said that Ms. McDougal's claim of an affair with Mr. Trump was totally untrue."
Q And that statement that you just read, does that accurately reflect the statement that you gave to The Wall Street Journal?
A Yes.
Q Did Mr. Trump tell you to say, "We have no knowledge of any of this”?
A Um, I don't -- I don't remember him, you know, verbatim saying that, but that was -- that was the consensus of the conversations that we were all having, that the campaign wasn't aware of this agreement that AMI had with Ms. McDougal. But, my recollection is that this is what was told to me and -- and that's why it was provided as a statement.
Q Is it your recollection that this was told to you by Mr. Trump?
A Um, certainly that any claims of an affair were totally untrue, yes. That's what was told to me. I don't have a strong memory of him saying verbatim, We have no knowledge of any of this. So, I just don't want to say that -- I don't want to say that that's what he said, because I don't remember . . . .
Q Do you see the passage [from the WSJ] that's being displayed?
A Yes.
Q Does that read: "Mr. Davidson also represented Stephanie Clifford, a former adult film star whose professional name is Stormy Daniels and who was in discussions with ABC's Good Morning America in recent months publicly disclose what she said was a past relationship with Mr. Trump, according to people familiar with the talks. Ms. Clifford cut off contact with the network without telling her story. She didn't respond to requests for comment. An ABC spokesperson declined to comment on Ms. McDougal or Ms. Clifford. The Trump spokeswoman, Ms. Hicks, said it was 'absolutely, unequivocally untrue' about that Stormy Daniels had a relationship with Mr. Trump." Do you see that statement?
A Yes.
Q Does it accurately reflect what you said to The Wall Street Journal?
A Yes. And it also accurately reflects what I said in the Grand Jury, that what I told to the The Wall Street Journal was told to me.
Q Did Mr. Trump tell you to say to The Wall Street Journal that the relationship with Stormy Daniels was "absolutely, unequivocally untrue"?
A Yes. Yes.
Q Did you -- did you -- after the story was published, were you in contact with Mr. Cohen about the story?
A Yes.
Q And did you text each other about the story?
A Yes . . . .
Hope Hicks testifies about Donald Trump’s reaction to the Wall Street Journal Story (Transcript, p. 2206):
Q After it was published and on November 5th, did you discuss the article with Mr. Trump?
A I did.
Q What, if anything, did you discuss?
A Um, he was concerned about the story. Um, he was concerned how it would be viewed by his wife, um, and he wanted me to make sure that the newspapers weren't delivered to their residence that morning.
Q Did he also ask you whether it was -- whether you thought it was likely to affect the campaign?
A Um, everything we talked about in the context of, you know, this time period -- in this time period was about whether or not there was an impact on the campaign. So, certainly -- I don't recall, specifically, him saying that. But, everything was -- something that Mr. Trump said a lot is, "How" -- "How is it playing?" He wanted to know how things were playing, whether they were playing well or playing poorly. And that could have been a speech, an article, a tweet. So, I don't want to speculate, but I'm almost certain he would have asked me, "How's it playing?", and wanted to know how I felt the next few days were gonna go and if this was going to be a big piece of the next few days . . . .