Stormy kills Bragg case

[GMDino]

https://apnews.com/article/trump-trial-hush-money-stormy-daniels-manhattan-f4f26333698f3a5ed73943ff805734b3

Quote:Hicks told jurors that Trump claimed he did not know anything about his then-attorney Michael Cohen paying $130,000 to Daniels to prevent her from going public with claims of a sexual encounter with Trump. But, Hicks said, Trump eventually came to believe that burying Daniels’ story was prudent, saying he thought “it would have been bad to have that story come out before the election.”


At other points, Hicks’ testimony appeared to help the defense’s contention that the former president was trying to protect his reputation and family — not his campaign — by shielding them from embarrassing stories about his personal life. Trump has denied any wrongdoing in the case, which he has slammed as an effort to derail his campaign to reclaim the White House in November.
Under questioning by Trump’s attorney, Hicks told jurors that he was worried about the effect of the “Access Hollywood” tape on his family. And when the Wall Street Journal published a story revealing ex-Playboy Model Karen McDougal’s affair allegations right before the election, Hicks said Trump was concerned about his wife seeing the story and asked Hicks to make sure newspapers weren’t delivered to their residence that morning.

But when asked if Trump was also worried about the story’s impact on the campaign, Hicks responded that everything they spoke about during that time was viewed through the lens of the campaign. Trump would often asking her, “How is it playing?” as a way of gauging how his appearances, speeches and policies were landing with voters, she said.