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Former Donald Trump aide Hope Hicks has testified in court that he told her in the final days of the 2016 presidential election to deny that he had a sexual relationship with porn star Stormy Daniels. Ms Hicks's testimony on Friday, local time, gave jurors an inside look at the campaign's damage control efforts when Mr Trump faced multiple accusations of unflattering sexual behaviour in the waning weeks of his successful White House campaign. Mr Trump has pleaded not guilty to charges of falsifying business records to cover up a $US130,000 ($197,000) payment made at that time to Ms Daniels, who was threatening to go public with her story of their 2006 sexual encounter. Ms Hicks testified that she told Mr Trump four days before the November 8, 2016, election that the Wall Street Journal would publish details of Ms Daniels's story. "He wanted to make sure that there was a denial of any kind of relationship," said Ms Hicks, who served as campaign press secretary. Loading... She said Mr Trump did not want his wife Melania Trump to see the story, which also included allegations that he had an affair with former Playboy model Karen McDougal. Mr Trump has denied having sex 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," Ms Hicks said. Prosecutors in the first criminal trial of the former US president argued that the payment to Ms Daniels corrupted the election by suppressing news that could have influenced voters as they decided whether to back the Republican candidate or Hillary Clinton, his then-Democratic rival. Prosecutors said Mr Trump falsified records to cover up election-law and tax-law violations, which elevates the 34 counts he faces from a misdemeanour to a felony punishable by up to four years in prison. Hope Hicks testified Donald Trump didn't want his wife to see the story of his affair.(Reuters: Jane Rosenberg) Ms Hicks's testimony could help Mr Trump's lawyers make their case that he paid off Ms Daniels to keep his wife, not voters, from hearing the adult film star's allegations. She said Mr Trump told her that his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, paid off Ms Daniels to "protect him from a false allegation" out of the "kindness of his own heart". Ms Hicks said she thought that would have been out of character for Mr Cohen. "I didn't know Michael [Cohen] to be an especially charitable person or selfless person," she said. Ms Hicks teared up briefly during her testimony. Mr Trump, the Republican candidate for president again this year, sat expressionless at the defendant's table during the testimony by Ms Hicks, the first person who worked for Trump's campaign to appear as a witness in the 11-day-old trial. Ms Hicks said the campaign was rattled by the public release of an audio recording from the Access Hollywood TV show in which Mr Trump bragged about grabbing women's genitals. She said Mr Trump was upset but also played down the comments. "Mr Trump felt like this wasn't good, but it was also just like two guys talking, locker-room talk," she testified. Hope Hicks was one of Donald Trump's top aides. The 12 jurors and six alternates have yet to hear from the main players in the case, including Ms Daniels and Mr Cohen. Earlier in the day, the judge overseeing the trial told Mr Trump that a gag order that bars him from commenting about witnesses and jurors would not prevent him from testifying, as Mr Trump had told reporters on Thursday. "I want to stress to Mr Trump: you have an absolute right to testify at trial," Justice Juan Merchan said. Mr Trump said his legal team would try to overturn the gag order, which bars him from making public comments about jurors, witnesses, and families of the judge and prosecutors if those statements are meant to interfere with the case. Justice Merchan fined Mr Trump $US9,000 on Tuesday for violating the order and signalled on Thursday he may impose more fines for what prosecutors say are further violations. Justice Merchan said Mr Trump could be jailed if he does not change his ways. Mr Trump said the case is an attempt by Democrats to undercut his chances of defeating Democratic President Joe Biden in the upcoming presidential election on November 5. The case features sordid allegations of adultery and secret pay-offs, but it is widely seen as less consequential than the other three criminal prosecutions Mr Trump faces and perhaps the only one to be tried before the November election. The others charge him with trying to overturn his 2020 presidential defeat and mishandling classified documents after leaving office. Mr Trump has pleaded not guilty to all of those also. Reuters Posted 4 May 20244 May 2024Sat 4 May 2024 at 3:14am, updated 4 May 20244 May 2024Sat 4 May 2024 at 4:36amTrump 'concerned' over what wife would think of affair
'Protect him from a false allegation'