Did Donald Trump Deny Stormy Daniels Affair To Shield Wife Melania From Scandal? Former Top Aide Testifies In Hush-Money Trial.

Former top aide to Donald Trump, Hope Hicks, testified yesterday that he instructed her during the 2016 presidential election’s final days to deny his alleged sexual involvement with Stormy Daniels.

Hicks’ testimony provided jurors with insights into the campaign’s efforts to manage damage control amid numerous allegations of Trump’s inappropriate sexual behavior during the final weeks of his victorious White House bid, Reuters reported.

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Trump has maintained his innocence against charges of falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to Daniels, who threatened to disclose their alleged 2006 sexual encounter.

Hicks testified that she told Trump four days before the Nov. 8, 2016, election that the Wall Street Journal would publish details of Daniels’ story. 

“He wanted to make sure that there was a denial of any kind of relationship,” said Hicks, who served as campaign press secretary, according to Reuters.

Hicks added that Trump expressed a desire to shield his wife, Melania Trump, from the story, which also implicated him in an alleged affair with former Playboy model Karen McDougal. 

Donald Trump has consistently denied engaging in sexual relations with either woman.

“He was concerned about how it would be viewed by his wife, and he wanted me to make sure the newspapers weren’t delivered to the residence that morning,” Hicks said.

Hicks’ testimony might support Donald Trump’s legal defense that the payment to Daniels was intended to shield his wife, not influence voters. 

The former president purportedly told Hicks that his lawyer, Michael Cohen, made the payment out of personal goodwill to shield him from false allegations.

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