As the Trump investigation intensifies, Hope Hicks meets with Manhattan prosecutors.

As the Trump investigation intensifies, Hope Hicks meets with Manhattan prosecutors.
Trust Hicks, a confided in helper to Donald J. Trump during his 2016 official mission, met with the Manhattan head prosecutor's office on Monday — the most recent in a series of observers to be addressed by examiners as they explore the previous president's contribution in paying quiet cash to a pornography star.

The presence of Ms. Hicks, who was seen strolling into the Manhattan head prosecutor's office in the early evening, addresses the most recent sign that the examiners are in the last phases of their examination.

She is basically the seventh observer to meet with examiners since the head prosecutor, Alvin L. Bragg, met a fabulous jury in January to hear proof for the situation. Last week, one more noticeable individual from the 2016 mission, Kellyanne Conway, affirmed before the fantastic jury, as per two individuals with information regarding this situation. Two representatives of Mr. Trump's organization have likewise affirmed, as have two previous leaders of The Public Enquirer who aided specialist the quiet cash plan, as well as a legal counselor for the pornography star, Turbulent Daniels.

The potential case is centered around Mr. Trump's job in concealing the installment to Ms. Daniels, who has long said that she had an unsanctioned romance with him. The $130,000 installment was made by Michael D. Cohen, a long-lasting fixer for Mr. Trump, in the winding down days of the 2016 mission. After Mr. Trump got down to business, he repaid Mr. Cohen.

It is muddled whether Mr. Bragg will eventually look for an incrimination of Mr. Trump, who has denied all bad behavior and said that he never took part in an extramarital entanglements with Ms. Daniels, whose genuine name is Stephanie Clifford. Yet, the weekslong show of proof to the fantastic jury recommends that the head prosecutor could be approaching a choice.

It couldn't be promptly resolved whether Ms. Hicks,who likewise served in the White House, was affirming before the excellent jury or was just gathering with examiners to address their inquiries. A representative for the head prosecutor's office declined to remark, as did Robert P. Trout, a legal counselor for Ms. Hicks.
Even as the former president launches a third campaign, Mr. Bragg is one of three prosecutors whose investigations into Mr. Trump seem to be moving swiftly. A district attorney in Georgia is looking into Mr. Trump's attempts to tamper with the outcome of the state's 2020 election. Also, a special counsel is looking into whether Mr. Trump broke the law in relation to the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, as well as his handling of secret information.
Mr. Trump has said that the prosecutors, including Mr. Bragg, a Democrat, are engaged in a politically motivated “witch hunt.” On Saturday, speaking to conservative media, he said that he would not drop out of the presidential race if he were to be indicted.

“I wouldn’t even think about leaving,” he said.

Mr. Cohen, who in 2018 pleaded guilty to federal charges related to the hush money and turned on Mr. Trump, has met with the district attorney’s office a number of times this year but has yet to testify in front of the grand jury. He has said he expects to testify “very soon.”

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As the spokeswoman for Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign, Ms. Hicks was responsible for damage control on a number of issues, a role that has attracted the interest of various investigators over the years. In court records from Mr. Cohen’s federal case, the F.B.I. noted that she participated in a phone call with Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen on the same day they learned that Ms. Daniels wanted money for her story. Ms. Hicks also spoke with Mr. Cohen the day after he wired the $130,000 to Ms. Daniels’s lawyer.

Prosecutors are likely to want to know whether she was privy to any conversations or other information about Mr. Cohen’s dealings with Ms. Daniels’s representatives or how the hush money payment was arranged.

Ms. Hicks, however, has testified before Congress that she was not present for any conversation in which Mr. Cohen and Mr. Trump discussed the hush money. She has also said that she was unaware of the deal with Ms. Daniels at the time it was arranged.

It is unclear how Ms. Hicks’s testimony would affect any case should Mr. Bragg decide to seek charges.

Any case involving the hush money payment would be likely to hinge on internal Trump Organization records that falsely identified the reimbursement to Mr. Cohen as legal expenses. To prove their case, prosecutors would have to link Mr. Trump to those false records.

Falsifying business records can be a crime in New York. But to charge Mr. Trump with a felony, Mr. Bragg’s prosecutors would have to show that his involvement in the false records was meant to help commit or conceal a second crime — probably a violation of New York State election law. The theory linking the false records to a violation of state election law has not been tested in court.

If Mr. Trump were ultimately convicted of those charges, he would face a maximum sentence of four years. But prison time would not be mandatory, and a conviction is far from assured.