Close Trump aide Hicks declines to answer questions about time in White House

[webfact]

Close Trump aide Hicks declines to answer questions about time in White House

By Patricia Zengerle

 

FILE PHOTO: White House Communications Director Hope Hicks departs as she and White House counselor Kellyanne Conway (L) stand on the sidelines while U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 9, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hope Hicks, a close aide to President Donald Trump, declined to answer questions about her time in the White House from members of the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee as she testified on Tuesday in its investigation of Russia and the 2016 U.S. election, lawmakers said.

 

White House communications director Hicks was Trump's spokeswoman during the 2016 election campaign. She answered questions about the campaign and some about the transition, the months between Trump's victory in November 2016 and his January 2017 inauguration, Representative Thomas Rooney, a Republican who is one of the leaders of the committee's Russia probe, told reporters.

 

Other Trump aides, such as former White House adviser Steve Bannon, also have declined to answer many of the committee's questions, citing White House orders.

 

Hicks arrived at about 10 a.m. EST (1500 GMT) for a closed door session with the panel, which is conducting one of three main congressional probes of allegations that Russia sought to interfere in the 2016 election to boost Trump's chances of victory, and whether his associates colluded with Russia.

 

Hicks did not speak to reporters as she came in.

 

Rooney said members were pressing Hicks to respond to the same questions in her House testimony as she had when she spoke to the Senate Intelligence Committee, one of the other congressional panels looking into the issue.

 

Shortly before Hicks' testimony, Trump took to Twitter to comment on the investigation, tweeting "WITCH HUNT."

 

Trump has repeatedly denied any collusion with Russia, and Moscow has denied attempting to meddle in the U.S. campaign.

 

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders declined to comment on Hicks' reported refusal to respond to some questions, telling reporters the White House would not comment on any individual's interactions with the intelligence committee.

 

(Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu; editing by David Gregorio and Phil Berlowitz)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-02-28

[mtls2005]

Her time in the barrel with Mueller's team may not go quite as swimmingly?

 

 

[blazes]

 

I wonder how someone so young and hot (as in hottie) manages to get such an important position in the Trump White House....and keep it.

[mtls2005]

20 minutes ago, blazes said:

I wonder how someone so young and hot (as in hottie) manages to get such an important position in the Trump White House....and keep it.

 

Step one was working for Ivanka. After that, she probably caught Dad's eye as she is a 10.

 

 

[blazes]

19 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

 

Step one was working for Ivanka. After that, she probably caught Dad's eye as she is a 10.

 

 

Well, yes, my  query was ironic....but still, I wonder (unironically) how Malania puts up with such a hottie's proximity to her ...um...husband at all hours.....well, not all hours, cos there are the Tweeting Hours that divert his attention even from someone as desirable as HH....

[Briggsy]

2 minutes ago, blazes said:

Well, yes, my  query was ironic....but still, I wonder (unironically) how Malania puts up with such a hottie's proximity to her ...um...husband at all hours.....well, not all hours, cos there are the Tweeting Hours that divert his attention even from someone as desirable as HH....

Melania knows Donald has an attention span of a 9-year-old and that applies to his relationships with women. She and all Donald's other wives and ex's understand this. They knew it within a few days of meeting him. Money, lots of it, and the potential removal of it and all the other compromising material Donald has on them keeps them in line, compliant and silent.

[mtls2005]

3 minutes ago, blazes said:

but still, I wonder (unironically) how Malania puts up with such a hottie's proximity to her ...um...husband at all hours.

 

My guess? Melania has no issues with her husband focusing his "attentions" elsewhere? But Ms. Hicks had relations with Corey Lewandowski, dumped him, then took up with Rob "The Punisher" Porter. She's single again, I guess?

 

I think Ms. Hicks was an upgrade from Rhona Graff?

 

The 'tweet flow' seems to come from up to six assistants, which Ms. Hicks then assembles and often 'publishes' without the boss'es review. He can also 'publish' his own tweets. The difference is obvious. His own tweets are getting even more simplistic with each passing day. Example: "WITCH HUNT!"

[joecoolfrog]

One would have thought the White House would be eager for these staffers to reveal all they know in order to set the record straight.

After all its only a Witch hunt so what is there to hide ?

[Andaman Al]

Conway must hate Hicks. Young, smooth wrinkle free skin, and can serve the President all hours.

 

Mueller will sort out Hicks and it is about time these committees grew some balls or there is no point having any enquiries (which is what the Republicans are aiming at). I cannot see how any Republican politician can actually look his kids in the eyes when they go home and say they are doing a good job for America. They lack all integrity and are behaving in a shameful manner. I guess McConnell and Ryan are mostly to blame but Trump is squarely at the top of the pile.

[dunroaming]

In my head I see the interview with Ms Hicks as a scene from Basic Instinct.  The interrogators sitting in a line facing her with her on a chair facing them.  All of them hoping she will shift her position and reveal all .

 

Time for a cold shower I feel! 

[Andaman Al]

11 minutes ago, dunroaming said:

In my head I see the interview with Ms Hicks as a scene from Basic Instinct.  The interrogators sitting in a line facing her with her on a chair facing them.  All of them hoping she will shift her position and reveal all .

 

Time for a cold shower I feel! 

No need for a cold shower, just imagine if you were to see a flash of what you hope to see and remind yourself that Lewandowski has been there, then  Mr Floppy will return very quickly - unless you are attracted to some rather unpleasant thoughts., 

[Srikcir]

10 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

Her time in the barrel with Mueller's team may not go quite as swimmingly?

 

 

Hicks was interviewed for two days in December as part of Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and any potential collusion with the Trump campaign.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/hope-hicks-met-special-counsels-team-interviews/story?id=51681287

Mueller doesn't leak and Hope has said nothing about the interviews.

I wonder if Hope has become another Papadopoulos, a "cooperative witness" whose continued presence in the White House may provide an information conduit to Mueller.

[Andaman Al]

33 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

Hicks was interviewed for two days in December as part of Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and any potential collusion with the Trump campaign.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/hope-hicks-met-special-counsels-team-interviews/story?id=51681287

Mueller doesn't leak and Hope has said nothing about the interviews.

I wonder if Hope has become another Papadopoulos, a "cooperative witness" whose continued presence in the White House may provide an information conduit to Mueller.

Genius.

[joecoolfrog]

Tonight she resigned and admitted to telling ' White lies ' to protect Trump. Be afraid fan boyz , be very afraid !

[Peabody]

From Washington Post:  

"By her own admission, Hicks knew little to nothing about politics. But she had a preternatural ability to manage Trump’s whims and appetites and soothe his mood swings. On the campaign trail, Hicks was more than a press secretary. She was a multitasker, part strategist and part travel buddy, whose tasks included steaming the candidate’s pants before his rallies, often while he was wearing them." 

 

Edited March 1, 2018 by Peabody

[sfokevin]

My bet is she has a dress with DNA just like Omarosa.... 

[webfact]

UPDATE:

 

Trump top communications aide Hicks resigns - White House

By Steve Holland

 

FILE PHOTO: White House Communications Director Hope Hicks attends an official dinner thrown by Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in honor of U.S. President Donald Trump at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo, Japan November 6, 2017. Picture taken November 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hope Hicks, one of U.S. President Donald Trump's longest-serving, most trusted aides, is resigning from her job as White House communications director.

 

Full story: https://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/1027140-trump-top-communications-aide-hicks-resigns-white-house/

[Srikcir]

Run before POTUS Trump finds out she outed Trump Jr. in her interview with Mueller? Maybe an indictment coming soon?

 

Hicks said nothing in nine hours before the congressional intelligence committee that would have angered Trump. Even her co-opted defense letter with her boyfriend Rob Porter concerning abuse allegations against Porter probably more pleased Trump than angered him.

[mrwebb8825]

Pretty sexist set of comments here. How about she kept her job because she was good at it? Her little white lies follow along the line of "No, I'm sorry, he's not in right now" and "Yes, I'll see that he gets your message" before dropping it in the trash can.

[selftaopath]

On 2/28/2018 at 2:33 PM, mtls2005 said:

 

Step one was working for Ivanka. After that, she probably caught Dad's eye as she is a 10.

 

 

Granted many might find her physically attractive - big deal. Who she seems to be however is ugly. Lies and liars are the enemy of the people. I feel confident when more information comes out we might conclude she is a very ugly woman e.g. lacking in integrity. Hell anyone who "hob nobs" with the cretin Trump should be avoided like the plague. I find her disgusting.

[selftaopath]

On 2/28/2018 at 6:16 PM, Andaman Al said:

Conway must hate Hicks. Young, smooth wrinkle free skin, and can serve the President all hours.

 

Mueller will sort out Hicks and it is about time these committees grew some balls or there is no point having any enquiries (which is what the Republicans are aiming at). I cannot see how any Republican politician can actually look his kids in the eyes when they go home and say they are doing a good job for America. They lack all integrity and are behaving in a shameful manner. I guess McConnell and Ryan are mostly to blame but Trump is squarely at the top of the pile.

Oh how I hope there is a "Blue Wave" in November. Send Republican incumbents packing. They are clearly in their positions for their own enhancement. They show little care for America/Americans. They are bribed by NRA and whomever.  I really hope they get what they deserve. 

[Credo]

1 hour ago, mrwebb8825 said:

Pretty sexist set of comments here. How about she kept her job because she was good at it? Her little white lies follow along the line of "No, I'm sorry, he's not in right now" and "Yes, I'll see that he gets your message" before dropping it in the trash can.

The president was reported to have said to her that  she was probably the best piece of *ss that Rob Porter ever had, so I think you trying to play the ethical card on behalf of your leader is out the window.

 

As far as what white lies were told, you don't know and neither does congress and they would like to know.   I doubt she ever said, 'he's not in right now.'   His whereabouts are pretty well known and he was unlikely to have popped down to the local McDonald's in one of the golf carts.

 

As for 'little' white lies, would it be anything like the Trump Tower meeting where she helped the President draft a response that it was about adoption.   That, by the way, was just a regular big lie.   

Edited March 4, 2018 by Credo

[Srikcir]

32 minutes ago, mrwebb8825 said:

Pretty sexist set of comments here. How about she kept her job because she was good at it? Her little white lies follow along the line of "No, I'm sorry, he's not in right now" and "Yes, I'll see that he gets your message" before dropping it in the trash can.

You take the word of a liar that she only told white lies.

Doesn't that challenge her credibility?

She might as well said she only tells the truth when she's not lying.

Do you see the conundrum?

 

Furthermore, the example you cite is your own, not her direct testimony. If her lying for President Trump was so innocuous, why did her acknowledgment of lying apparently require roughly 20 minutes with her attorneys during that line of questioning? Seems there may be different levels of "white lies." Maybe like the ones you can innocently dismiss (keeping someone from seeing Trump) and the ones you can't (protecting Trump's lies related to the Russian investigation).

 

Fortunately with regard to what were white lies, Hick's two-day interview with the FBI last December will find the truth. I suspect that she told no white lies to the FBI. Her seemingly unsolicited voluntary resignation from the White House might have been less for the white lying issue than for the end of her possible role as a "cooperative FBI witness" like Papadopoulos following her conspiracy with her boyfriend Porter to craft his denial of domestic abuses (that might have tainted her further value as an FBI cooperative witness).

 

 

[selftaopath]

A lie is a lie is a lies is a lie. Those who lie are called LIARS. Trump is a pathological liar who is NOT to be trusted by anyone. Oh I hope he speaks with Mueller's team and under oath. lol lol By by Donnie.

[Chomper Higgot]

Mueller already has testimony against Hicks in which she offers to ensure 'emails (evidence) disappears.

 

She's toast.

[joecoolfrog]

10 hours ago, mrwebb8825 said:

Pretty sexist set of comments here. How about she kept her job because she was good at it? Her little white lies follow along the line of "No, I'm sorry, he's not in right now" and "Yes, I'll see that he gets your message" before dropping it in the trash can.

Yes thats correct , its all a big fat nothing burger....dont think so !

[mtls2005]

11 hours ago, mrwebb8825 said:

Pretty sexist set of comments here. How about she kept her job because she was good at it? Her little white lies follow along the line of "No, I'm sorry, he's not in right now" and "Yes, I'll see that he gets your message" before dropping it in the trash can.

 

Or, "Don't worry, Don Jr's emails will never get out."

 

Clearly, the boss was so upset at her "white lies" revelation that he berated her, called her stupid, and she quit shortly thereafter.

 

 

Mueller Zeros In on Story Put Together About Trump Tower Meeting

 

WASHINGTON — Aboard Air Force One on a flight home from Europe last July, President Trump and his advisers raced to cobble together a news release about a mysterious meeting at Trump Tower the previous summer between Russians and top Trump campaign officials. Rather than acknowledge the meeting’s intended purpose — to obtain political dirt about Hillary Clinton from the Russian government — the statement instead described the meeting as being about an obscure Russian adoption policy.

 

 

Mr. Corallo is planning to tell Mr. Mueller about a previously undisclosed conference call with Mr. Trump and Hope Hicks, the White House communications director, according to the three people. Mr. Corallo planned to tell investigators that Ms. Hicks said during the call that emails written by Donald Trump Jr. before the Trump Tower meeting — in which the younger Mr. Trump said he was eager to receive political dirt about Mrs. Clinton from the Russians — “will never get out.” That left Mr. Corallo with concerns that Ms. Hicks could be contemplating obstructing justice, the people said.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/31/us/politics/trump-russia-hope-hicks-mueller.html