Hope Hicks, a former top aide and close confidante of former President Trump, took the stand Friday in Trump’s criminal trial over the handling of an alleged hush money payment to an adult film star during the 2016 campaign.
Hicks, who worked on Trump’s campaign and later in the White House, testified about interactions with Michael Cohen, Trump’s former “fixer,” who arranged the payment to Stormy Daniels to keep an alleged affair quiet.
Hicks confirmed that Cohen was not an official part of the campaign apparatus but would often seek to insert himself into Trump’s realm.
Hicks broke down on the stand as she testified about a call she had with Trump, during which he told her that Cohen made the payment to Daniels out of the goodness of his heart.
Hicks testified that she felt Cohen doing that would be “out of character.”
Hicks said she sent Cohen a draft of her planned response to The Wall Street Journal “to get his input” before replying to the paper’s inquiry about efforts to keep Playboy model Karen McDougal’s story of an alleged affair out of the media. But Trump did not want Cohen’s statement and wanted to craft his own, Hicks said.
Trump, who has been put under a gag order in the case, briefly spoke to reporters after the trial adjourned for the day.
“I was very interested in what took place today,” he said.
Trump is accused of falsifying business records to hide the payment and prevent the news from harming his campaign.
All the updates from the trial here via The Hill.
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Welcome to Evening Report! I’m Liz Crisp, catching you up from the afternoon and what’s coming tomorrow. Not on the list? Subscribe here.
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DC police won’t dismantle GW encampment despite GOP demands
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District of Columbia police leaders are defending the decision to let a pro-Palestinian encampment stay on the George Washington University (GW) campus, despite calls from Republican lawmakers for it to be cleared.
The House Oversight Committee has scheduled a hearing Wednesday on how District leaders have handled the encampment, after a group of conservative lawmakers surveyed campus earlier this week.
The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) have faced scrutiny as the protest continues. The Washington Post reported this week that D.C. police refused to clear the encampment despite the school calling for back-up.
The GW demonstrators are part of a nation-wide effort on college campuses to denounce the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
As long as the GW encampment remains peaceful, it likely will not have to be cleared.
“I think here in the District of Columbia, we allow people the opportunity to have freedom of speech, and that’s what we’re seeing right now. There has been no violence, no violent behavior, no confrontations,” Chief Pamela Smith said, according to an MPD spokesperson. “If the behavior changes, then our procedures and our process might change.”
The spokesperson also told The Hill, “The approach Chief Smith mentioned here remains our current posture.”
Both pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel rallies were held on GW’s campus Thursday.
House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) has called Bowser and Smith to testify before the committee next week, but it’s unclear whether they plan to accept his invitation.
“The House Oversight Committee is deeply concerned over reports indicating the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department rejected George Washington University’s request for help in removing the radical, antisemitic, and unlawful protestors occupying the campus and surrounding public lands,” Comer said in a statement. (The Hill)
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US economy adds fewer than expected jobs in April
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The U.S. economy added 175,000 jobs and the jobless rate ticked higher to 3.9 percent in April, according to new Labor Department data.
After several hotter-than-expected jobs reports, April’s employment gains fell short of economists’ expectations of 240,000 new jobs and a 3.8 percent unemployment rate.
But the trend ultimately proves better for sky-high interest rates. A Federal Reserve committee voted this week to hold off on cutting interest rates, which have sat between 5.25 percent and 5.5 percent — the highest in 23 years — since last July.
An uptick in inflation and other strong economic indicators have shifted the central bank’s rate cut timeline further into the year.
“The Fed clearly stated that it is taking a cautious approach on the timing of any interest-rate cuts to ensure that inflation is well contained, and this could lead to continued pressure on the jobs market in the months to come,” Joseph Gaffoglio, president of Mutual of America Capital Management, said. (The Hill)
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Here are some of the people coming up on the Sunday news shows this weekend:
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CBS “Face the Nation”: South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R), Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Queen Rania of Jordan.
CNN “State of the Union”: University of Florida president and former Sen. Ben Sasse (R).
FOX “Fox News Sunday”: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).
NBC “Meet the Press”: Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.).
MSNBC “The Sunday Show”: Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.).
Bonus: Joining “Real Time With Bill Maher” tonight: Kellyanne Conway.
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Texas Democrat faces bribery, money laundering charges
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Longtime Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) and his wife, Imelda, are facing bribery and money laundering charges linked to their ties with an oil and gas company controlled by Azerbaijan.
Cuellar, who has denied any wrongdoing, pushed back against the indictment in a statement Friday, saying he is “innocent of these allegations” and still plans to seek reelection.
The Justice Department searched Cuellar’s home and office in January 2022 as part of an investigation into Azerbaijan. Cuellar, a co-chair of the Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus, said at the time he was not the target of the investigation.
In his Friday statement, Cuellar did not address specifics of the charges he faces but suggested he sought out legal advice. He also referenced his wife’s professional background.
“Before I took any action, I proactively sought legal advice from the House Ethics Committee, who gave me more than one written opinion, along with an additional opinion from a national law firm. The actions I took in Congress were consistent with the actions of many of my colleagues and in the interest of the American people,” Cuellar wrote in a statement issued through his reelection campaign.
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UN ambassador condemns Gershkovich detention
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Ahead of World Press Freedom Day, United Nations Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield condemned the continued detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been in Russian captivity for more than a year.
“Today, as we mourn the dozens of journalists killed in Gaza; as hundreds more remain unjustly detained around the world; and as Evan Gershkovich marks 400 days — 400 days in a Russian prison — this occasion is less a celebration than an urgent call to action,” she said Friday.
Thomas-Greenfield said Gershkovich, who worked from Russia, is being held for “reporting the facts about Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine. A war that continues to today.”
Gershkovich was detained by the country’s Federal Security Service and charged with suspicion of espionage. He has been detained since March 28, 2023. (The Hill)
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“Is Trump on track to blow the election (again)?” writes Keith Naughton, co-founder of Silent Majority Strategies.
“Campus riots undermine the Palestinian cause, but Netanyahu’s allies undermine Israel’s,” writes Dov S. Zakheim, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and vice chairman of the board for the Foreign Policy Research Institute.
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72 days until the Republican National Convention.
108 days until the Democratic National Convention.
185 days until the 2024 general election.
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