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Hope Hicks

Hope Hicks

Hope Charlotte Hicks (born October 21, 1988) is an American public relations consultant who served as White House Communications Director for President Donald Trump from August 2017 until March 29, 2018.[1][2] From January to September 2017, she was White House Director of Strategic Communications.

A former model, Hicks was an employee of The Trump Organization before becoming press secretary and early communications director for the Trump 2016 presidential campaign, as well as the national press secretary for the presidential transition team.[3][4] She was Trump's longest-serving political aide at the time of her resignation.[5][6]

On February 27, 2018, Hicks testified to a Congressional committee that she had told "white lies" on Trump's behalf.[7][8][9] The next day, Hicks announced her intention to resign as White House Communications Director.[10][11] She left the White House a month later.

In 2019, she began working for Fox Corporation as its chief communications officer and executive vice president.[12][13] On July 18, 2019, un-redacted search warrant documents from the Michael Cohen criminal case were released and it appeared a strong possibility that Hicks had known about hush payments made by Michael Cohen on behalf of Donald Trump before the dates she had previously claimed.[14] Sources have indicated that Hicks would not be charged with a crime.

Hope Hicks
White House Director of Communications
In office
September 12, 2017 – March 29, 2018
Acting: August 16, 2017 – September 12, 2017
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byAnthony Scaramucci
Succeeded byBill Shine
1st White House Director of Strategic Communications
In office
January 20, 2017 – September 12, 2017
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byMercedes Schlapp
Personal details
Born
Hope Charlotte Hicks

(1988-10-21)October 21, 1988
Greenwich, Connecticut, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
EducationSouthern Methodist University (BA)

Early life

Hicks is the daughter of Caye Ann (Cavender) Hicks and Paul Burton Hicks III.[15] She grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut.[16][17] Her father was Regional CEO, Americas[18] of Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, and executive vice president of communications for the National Football League from 2010 to 2015, before becoming managing director of the Glover Park Group.[3][16][19][20][21] Her family had a history in politics: her mother was an aide to Ed Jones, a Democratic congressman from Tennessee; her maternal grandfather, G. W. F. "Dutch" Cavender, worked in the U.S. Department of Agriculture during two different administrations; and her maternal grandmother, Marilee Cavender, worked at the U.S. Department of Transportation.[22]

Hicks was a teenage model, appearing in Greenwich magazine in 2002.[5] She then posed for a Ralph Lauren campaign with her older sister Mary Grace, and was the face of the Hourglass Adventures novels about a time-traveling 10-year-old.[5] She was the cover model for The It Girl (2005), the first novel in the series by Cecily von Ziegesar.[23]

Hicks attended Greenwich High School, where she was co-captain of the lacrosse team, and graduated in 2006.[17][24][25] She then attended Southern Methodist University, where she majored in English and played on a club lacrosse program she helped start. She graduated in 2010.[5][17][26]

Career

Hicks started in public relations with the New York City firm Zeno Group.[21] She began working for public relations firm Hiltzik Strategies in 2012, after meeting the firm's founder at a Super Bowl event, and worked there for Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump, on her fashion line, and then on other Trump ventures.[17][27]

In August 2014, Hicks joined The Trump Organization full-time.[19] She worked for Ivanka Trump inside Trump Tower, helping expand her fashion label (the Ivanka Trump Collection) and modeling for her online store.[28] In October 2014, she began working directly for Donald Trump.[29]

In January 2015, Donald Trump chose Hicks, who was 26 years old at the time, for the role of press secretary for his potential presidential campaign.[30][31] Trump summoned her to his office and, as she tells it, "Mr. Trump looked at me and said, 'I'm thinking about running for president, and you're going to be my press secretary.'"[28] Until that time, she had never worked in politics or volunteered on a campaign.[32] After Trump's first primary victories, Hicks was asked to choose between staying with the Trump Organization or working on the campaign full-time. She initially decided to leave the campaign, but Trump convinced her to remain and she stayed on as press secretary.[17]

During the campaign, she played the role of gatekeeper to press members who wanted to speak with Trump, handling over 250 requests a day, and deciding which reporters would be allowed to speak with him.[16][32] Hicks also took dictation from Trump for his tweets, and then sent the text to another person in the Trump organization who sent the tweets from Trump's official account.[28][33] When in New York City, she would spend most of her day in Trump's office, handling inquiries from the press and taking dictation from him to tweet.[30]

On December 22, 2016, it was announced that Hicks would become part of the Trump Administration, in the newly created position of the White House Director of Strategic Communications. In January 2017, Hicks was included on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, having "served as a one-woman press team for Trump's historic presidential campaign".[34]

On August 16, 2017, she was appointed as the interim White House Communications Director (the last Director having been Anthony Scaramucci). Politico labelled her the "Untouchable Hope Hicks", as she was considered one of the few White House officials whose job was safe, and one of only two White House communications officials Scaramucci had announced were definitely staying when he was first hired.[35] She was appointed permanent White House Communications Director on September 12, 2017.[36]

On February 27, 2018, Hicks gave nine hours of closed-door testimony to the House Intelligence Committee. She acknowledged that she sometimes had to tell "white lies" in her work as communications director, but refused to answer any questions about her tenure in the White House.[37] The next day the White House confirmed to The New York Times that Hicks planned to resign.[38] According to "multiple sources", she had been planning to resign for months, and her announcement was unrelated to the events of the preceding 24 hours.[39] She officially resigned on March 29, 2018.[40]

On March 4, 2019, the House Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Hicks requesting information regarding alleged obstruction of justice by the current administration.[41] (She was mentioned over 180 times in Robert Mueller's report on Russian election interference and possible obstruction of justice; the report was released on April 18, 2019.[42]) The Committee subpoenaed documents and her testimony on May 21, 2019.[43] On June 4, 2019, the Trump White House invoked executive privilege, directing Hicks to not provide any documents related to her employment in the Trump administration.[44] She agreed to testify in a closed-door session on June 19, 2019,[45] during which lawyers for the Trump administration forbade Hicks from answering questions 155 times, claiming that due to "absolute immunity", Hicks "may not speak about anything that occurred during the time of her employment in the White House as a close adviser to the President".[46][47] Hicks testified on the scheduled date, and also complied with the White House request to dodge questions.[48][49][50][51]

Personal life

Hicks and her sister lived in Greenwich, Connecticut, but she split her time between an apartment there and an apartment in Manhattan. When Trump was elected, she moved to Washington, D.C.[25][30][32]

She was dating Rob Porter in 2018 when he resigned as White House Staff Secretary after abuse allegations from his two ex-wives were made public.[52][53]

See also

  • Timeline of Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections

  • Timeline of investigations into Trump and Russia (2017)

  • Timeline of investigations into Trump and Russia (2018)

  • Timeline of investigations into Trump and Russia (2019)

References

[1]
Citation Linkweb.archive.orgHaberman, Maggie (September 12, 2017). "Hope Hicks Is Formally Named White House Communications Director". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on September 14, 2017. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
Sep 29, 2019, 10:43 PM
[2]
Citation Linkabcnews.go.comPhelps, Jordyn (March 29, 2018). "Trump bids farewell to close aide Hope Hicks". ABC News. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
Sep 29, 2019, 10:43 PM
[3]
Citation Linkweb.archive.orgNelson, Rebecca. "Meet Donald Trump's 27-Year-Old Communications Director, Hope Hicks". Marie Clare. Archived from the original on January 28, 2017. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
Sep 29, 2019, 10:43 PM
[4]
Citation Linkweb.archive.orgNussbaum, Matthew. "Trump transition seeks distance from conservation fundraiser". Politico. Archived from the original on December 21, 2016. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
Sep 29, 2019, 10:43 PM
[5]
Citation Linkweb.archive.orgGrynbaum, Michael (June 26, 2016). "The Woman Who 'Totally Understands' Donald Trump". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 6, 2017. Retrieved January 21, 2017.
Sep 29, 2019, 10:43 PM
[6]
Citation Linkweb.archive.orgDangremond, Sam. "15 Things You Should Know About Hope Hicks, Donald Trump's Director of Strategic Communications". Town & Country. Archived from the original on December 30, 2016.
Sep 29, 2019, 10:43 PM
[7]
Citation Linkwww.ft.com"Hope Hicks, the White House aide snared by white lies". Financial Times. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
Sep 29, 2019, 10:43 PM
[8]
Citation Linkportal.issn.orgFandos, Nicholas (February 27, 2018). "Hope Hicks Acknowledges She Sometimes Tells White Lies for Trump". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 11, 2018 – via NYTimes.com.
Sep 29, 2019, 10:43 PM
[9]
Citation Linkedition.cnn.comRaju, Manu; Herb, Jeremy (March 1, 2018). "What Hope Hicks meant about white lies". CNN. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
Sep 29, 2019, 10:43 PM
[10]
Citation Linkportal.issn.orgHaberman, Maggie (February 28, 2018). "Hope Hicks to Leave Post as White House Communications Director". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
Sep 29, 2019, 10:43 PM
[11]
Citation Linkabcnews.go.com"White House communications director Hope Hicks to resign". ABC News.
Sep 29, 2019, 10:43 PM
[12]
Citation Linkwww.cnn.comSelter, Brian (October 8, 2018). "Former Trump aide Hope Hicks joins Fox as head of PR". CNN. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
Sep 29, 2019, 10:43 PM
[13]
Citation Linkwww.foxcorporation.com"Hope Hicks Executive Vice President and Chief Communications Officer". Retrieved May 30, 2019.
Sep 29, 2019, 10:43 PM
[14]
Citation Linkabcnews.go.comNews, A. B. C. "New Cohen documents reveal calls with Trump, Enquirer publisher before payment". ABC News. Retrieved July 18, 2019.
Sep 29, 2019, 10:43 PM
[15]
Citation Linkweb.archive.org"Paul Hicks Weds Caye A. Cavender". The New York Times. May 16, 1982. Archived from the original on January 28, 2017. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
Sep 29, 2019, 10:43 PM
[16]
Citation Linkwww.cosmopolitan.comSebastian, Michael; Friedman, Megan (February 28, 2018). "16 Things to Know About Hope Hicks, President Trump's Communications Director". Cosmopolitan. Archived from the original on February 28, 2018.
Sep 29, 2019, 10:43 PM
[17]
Citation Linkweb.archive.orgNuzzi, Olivia (June 20, 2016). "The Mystifying Triumph of Hope Hicks, Donald Trump's Right-Hand Woman". GQ. Archived from the original on June 20, 2016. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
Sep 29, 2019, 10:43 PM
[18]
Citation Linkwww.linkedin.com"Paul Hicks". LinkedIn. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
Sep 29, 2019, 10:43 PM
[19]
Citation Linkweb.archive.orgViebeck, Elise (July 27, 2015). "Hope Hicks flies quietly in the eye of the Trump storm". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on August 2, 2016. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
Sep 29, 2019, 10:43 PM
[20]
Citation Linkblog.smu.edu"On The Campaign Trail With SMU Alum Hope Hicks '10, Donald Trump's Communications Director". Southern Methodist University Magazine. June 2016. Archived from the original on June 23, 2016.
Sep 29, 2019, 10:43 PM