When Hope Hicks walked into the courtroom she assiduously avoided Donald Trump. He did the same.
Four years out of college she joined the Trump organization, starting with the ex-president's daughter Ivanka. But even with her political inexperience, she soon became central to the presidential campaign. Yet as she began speaking from the court stand, Hicks was clearly nervous.
As communications director, she was just outside of the Oval Office and wandered in and out of his meetings. Then it all fell apart when the woman testified before the bipartisan January 6 Committee.
But in court her poise returned. Today's prosecutors were using her testimony to weave credibility into their case against the former president. In the White House she set up her proximity to him just outside the door.
Her loyalty to Trump was obvious today as she responded to questions regarding the timeline after the salacious Access Hollywood tape came to light. It was days before the election.
A Wall Street Journal press query about porn star Stormy Daniel’s relationship with Donald Trump was the first time Hicks learned about the one-night stand. She came across as an extremely calm and credible on the stand.
But unexpectedly, she broke down in tears. The woman was testifying under subpoena and under duress. That is not unusual. Sometimes witnesses forget their own addresses and even their own names.
She composed herself after six minutes and began cross examination. Hicks is an anchor for other witnesses, especially the ex’s attorney Michael Cohen given her credibility She was nearly alone among the ex-president's staff in that her background did not include a shady past.
Hicks said that Cohen was not on the campaign. And she agreed the lawyer tried to insert himself, sometimes going rogue. The defense repeated the question.
This woman has never liked the spotlight and has moved on, starting her own PR consulting business. Although she remains close to Ivanka.
On the campaign trail she fielded up 250 communications requests a day and took tweet content as dictated by the former president. The staff was extremely worried about how the sexual incidents would impact the election with women voters.
Suddenly Hicks was off the stand. There will be no redirect until Monday. The judge broke for the weekend.