Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, who was the first to testify in Donald Trump's New York hush money trial, has been lauded as a major witness — potentially even more so than former Trump lawyer and "star witness" Michael Cohen, who is still expected to testify.
Pecker shared through his testimony thatTrump likely suppressed media stories that could have ruined his chances of securing the 2016 presidential election.
While Pecker's testimony was critical to the prosecution's argument, in a Monday op-ed published by MSNBC, political analyst and Vanity Fair special correspondent Molly Jong-Fast points to the importance of former Trump press secretary and White House communications director Hope Hicks' emotional testimony.
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Hicks was asked, "Is it fair to say that, during this period, Mr. Trump was concerned these reports could hurt his standing with voters?"
She replied, "Yes."
Jong-Fast writes:
Hicks’ testimony about the 'Access Hollywood' tape confirms a grim reality: People voted for the man who bragged about sexual assault because they couldn’t face voting for a woman. The revelation should have sunk his campaign then and there. Looking back, it’s hard to imagine that it didn’t. But he prevailed. Perhaps he wouldn’t have, had McDougal and Daniels been able to share their stories. And perhaps Roe v. Wade would still be the law of the land, had those stories been shared and not caught and killed.
The Vanity Fair correspondent also emphasizes:
And now, women in many red states are forced to bleed out in parking lots because they’re not 'sick enough' to treat. This conservative Supreme Court might not exist if one person in Trumpworld had done the moral thing and come forward before the election. But none of them did — maybe because they were ideologically blinded. Or maybe because they just wanted to deliver for their guy.
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"Hicks was, like so many other members of Trumpworld, deeply focused on delivering for her boss and not bothered by the ethical and moral implications of her acts," Jong-Fast notes.
"Therefore Hicks’ testimony should be a moment of painful reflection not just on her as an individual, but also on the shirked responsibility of so many who chose to disregard evidence of what Trump promised."
Read her full op-ed here.