'Full panic mode': CNN analyst singles out 'powerful' Hope Hicks trial admission
Former Donald Trump White House aide Hope Hicks' recollection about the reaction of Donald Trump and his inner circle after learning about the release of the infamous "Access Hollywood" tape could play a key part in the Manhattan hush money jury's deliberations.
That was the takeaway by both CNN legal analyst Elie Honig and former Trump White House lawyer Jim Schultz on Friday afternoon as Hicks testified as a witness for the prosecution.
According to Hicks, as relayed by CNN host Dana Bash, "She shared the content, quote 'verbally with Trump,' saying she has a vague recollection of starting to read the [tape] transcript, and Trump finished reading it himself. Okay. that must have been a bit awkward as we continue to get updates from this really dramatic set of questions and answers."
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"Hope Hicks, quote, 'he said that didn't sound like something he would say,' Hicks testified noting, 'Trump asked if he could see the actual tape,' Bash continued.
"So this is really powerful evidence for prosecutors so far," Honig replied. "They are showing that inside the Trump campaign when this tape drops a couple of weeks before the election, the Trump campaign goes into full panic mode. Hope Hicks is right there in the middle, she's detailing it."
"And she says they were all quote, 'absorbing the shock of it and they discussed trying to get a copy of the audio of the tape to assess the situation further,'" host Bash interjected.
"So, like I said, full panic mode, and here's why it matters legally," Honig elaborated. "One of the things the prosecutors here have to prove, it's not enough in itself, but they have to prove that the reason the business records were falsified is because they were worried about the campaign. They were worried about what these accusations by Stormy Daniels would do to the campaign. It has to be some substantial campaign-related motivation."
"I personally think ... the evidence that this one was a campaign-related move is quite powerful, quite overwhelming," he added.
"He's going to be upset, right?" Schultz said. "And I think that this is significant in that, again, full-on panic mode, he seems to be very upset about it."
'You know, all the people around them," he added. "You have to remember [former New Jersey governor] Chris Christie was there working with them in debate prep. I think there were rumors there that Chris Christie recommended, 'Hey, you might want to step away from this thing.' So all of this is going on at one time."
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