Top Trump aide Hope Hicks meets with January 6 committee

By Annie Grayer and Jamie Gangel, CNN

Hope Hicks, who served as former President Donald Trump’s communications director, is having a transcribed interview with the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, a source familiar with the details told CNN.

Hicks previously had an “informal interview” with the committee, according to two separate sources, and is being called back for a formal interview.

CNN has reached out to the committee and Hicks’ lawyers for comment. The news of Tuesday’s meeting was first reported by The New York Times.

Hicks told Trump he lost the 2020 presidential election and received pushback for not believing the election had been stolen, according to multiple books that came out about the final months in the Trump White House.

According to reporting from “The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021,” by Peter Baker and Susan Glasser, Trump is quoted as saying, “Well, Hope doesn’t believe in me.”

“No, I don’t,” Hicks replied, according to the book. “Nobody’s convinced me otherwise.”

According to a separate book about Trump’s time in the White House, “I Alone Can Fix It,” by Carol D. Loennig and Philip Rucker, Hicks told Trump on November 9, 2020, “Look sir, I’m sorry,” adding “You’re not going to be able to win it back. There’s no way for you to win.”

Trump, according to the book, told Hicks she was wrong and that, “People are telling me about all the evidence.”

In “Peril,” by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, Hicks told Trump to focus on his legacy instead of the election, and Trump reportedly said, “it’s not in me to do that. I don’t care about my legacy.”

And in Michael C. Bender’s book, “Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost,” Hicks is described in one November meeting as trying to get Trump’s team to move on from the election and being told by Trump’s sons, “What you’re talking about isn’t even an option.”

Hicks did not play a prominent role in the final weeks Trump was in office.

The committee has sought to prove throughout its investigation and public hearings that various individuals surrounding Trump did not believe the election was stolen or in the former President’s election lies and told him so.

This story and headline have been updated with additional developments.

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