Hope Hicks, the White House communications director, is the latest Trump administration official to have a finger pointed at her for alleged cover-up of obstruction of justice in what the New York Times describes as “something of a circular firing squad.”
Mark Corallo, who quit in July as a spokesman for Donald Trump’s legal team, is the one doing the pointing. The special counsel investigating Russian interference in 2016 has asked to interview Corallo, and he has agreed.
Here’s an excerpt from the New York Times report:
Corallo planned to tell investigators that Ms. Hicks said during (a previously undisclosed conference call with Corallo, Hicks and the president) 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, (according to people familiar with the matter).”
(A lawyer for Hicks has denied Corallo’s allegations.)
Corallo, who worked as a Justice Department spokesman during the George W. Bush administration, told colleagues he was alarmed not only by what Ms. Hicks had said — either she was being naïve or was suggesting that the emails could be withheld from investigators — but also that she had said it in front of the president without a lawyer on the phone and that the conversation could not be protected by attorney-client privilege.
Corallo told colleagues that he immediately notified the legal team of the conversation and jotted down notes to memorialize it. He also shared his concerns with Stephen K. Bannon, then the president’s chief strategist. Mr. Corallo left the job shortly after the phone call. The recent book “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House,” by Michael Wolff, which was met with angry denunciations by the president, linked Mr. Corallo’s resignation to concerns he had about obstruction, but provided no details.
Hicks’ role in the alleged cover-up inspired a lively debate on Twitter, started by Emily Nussbaum, a TV critic for The New Yorker. Tweets included comments about Hicks’ race and gender, and racial inequality in the U.S.A.
Okay, read the NYT piece. It's kind of a sad story, in a way. Feels like Hope Hicks has been working 24/7 for the mafia & she doesn't have any idea that those aren't the real-world rules.
— Gremliny Nussboo (@emilynussbaum) February 1, 2018
I actually feel kind of bad for her family. It sounds like they tried to persuade her to stay away from all of this, but she just went full-in.
— Jenn! (@jenngidman) February 1, 2018
Of course. But there are layers of responsibility here. She came in as a young, inexperienced fashion PR person & then stayed & stayed & stayed. I'm not letting her off the hook at all, but it's a fucked up situation.
— Gremliny Nussboo (@emilynussbaum) February 1, 2018
Yeah. Hicks may not have known she was obstructing justice. But she sure as hell knows that she joined a campaign that was opened w/ the proclamation that "Mexicans are rapists," that she works for an admin that tried to ban Muslims from entering our country, etc. My sympathy=0.
— Mangy Jay (@magi_jay) February 1, 2018
Her dad was one of the doctors who fixed data about CTE for the NFL. Not a ton of ethics in the family.
— Amy THEE EdD Candidate (@mom2sadie) February 1, 2018
Do not hand wave her activities. She knew what she was doing. Also ask Corey Lewandowski's wife how SHE is feeling these days.
— DC Women Kicking Ass Hates Trump (@dcwomenkicknass) February 1, 2018
Zero sympathy before and after reading the article.
— Janet Dorsett (@mamadorsett) February 1, 2018
https://twitter.com/arickabella/status/959010346697707520
Poor folks in jail for a bag of weed, raise your hands if you feel sad for #HopeHicksSinksShips who was a willing actor in a treasonous cover up.
Maybe “Emily” feels because Hicks is a woman she never knew how Watergate worked. Maybe she just is more sympathetic to her tribe. https://t.co/02w9TJy8MX
— Jamarlin Martin (@JamarlinMartin) February 1, 2018
Don’t worry, she’ll be able to ride the myth of white female fragility to a suspended sentence and a seat on The View.
— WMJ (@wmjenkins3) February 1, 2018
https://twitter.com/kumailn/status/958903624700080128
“…but Hope Hicks is only 28.”
America: a country where black kids are tried as adults and white adults are treated like kids.
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@TheRealHoarse) February 1, 2018
https://twitter.com/swagadragon/status/959055832326590464
imo she knew the situation was shady based on her alleged comments. Thought exercise: Would you feel it was a sad story if Hope was a guy?
— Jack (@wakeupangry) February 1, 2018
