Is Donald Trump’s former communications director Hope Hicks getting ready to tell all?
According to ABC News, Hicks has agreed to go before the House Judiciary Committee next week to answer lawmakers’ questions about whether Trump meddled in efforts to determine if Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election.
Hicks, who left the White House in 2018 shortly after testifying before the House Intelligence Committee about the same matter, has decided to answer a subpoena from the Judiciary Committee, despite Trump telling her not to, citing executive privilege, the Washington Post reports.
Hicks’ attorney would not comment, according to the Post.
But the Judiciary Committee chairman, Rep. Jerrold “Jerry” Nadler (D-N.Y.), in an official announcement Wednesday, said Hicks’ testimony will be given in private, and a transcript of her remarks will be made available afterward.
As ABC reports:
“I am pleased to announce Hope Hicks will appear before the Committee for a transcribed interview. It is important to hear from Ms. Hicks, who was a key witness for the Special Counsel,” committee chairman, Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y. said in a statement on Wednesday. “Ms. Hicks understands that the Committee will be free to pose questions as it sees fit, including about her time on the Trump Campaign and her time in the White House. Should there be a privilege or other objection regarding any question, we will attempt to resolve any disagreement while reserving our right to take any and all measures in response to unfounded privilege assertions. We look forward to her testimony and plan to make the transcript promptly available to the public.”
Hicks’ testimony could be a major break for the Judiciary Committee, whose efforts to get key members surrounding the Trump administration to testify have been stymied by Trump, the Post reports.
In her February 2018 meeting with the House Intelligence Committee, just prior to her decision to leave the White House, Hicks said she had told “white lies” for Trump, the Post reports.
However, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders at the time instructed reporters not to make a big deal out of the timing of Hicks’ departure, saying that she just wanted to spend more time with her family, ABC recounts.
And according to ABC, a Republican lawmaker, Rep. Tom Rooney of Florida, told the Associated Press that Hicks may have told minor falsehoods to get Trump out of a meeting “or something like that,” but, said:
“When specifically asked whether or not she was instructed to lie by the president, or the candidate, with regard to Russia, the investigation or our investigation, the answer to that question was no.”