'No big deal': Ex-Trump aide shrugs off Hope Hicks throwing him under the bus

Former President Donald Trump's onetime press secretary appears unfazed by his former colleague Hope Hicks' tearful trial testimony in which she claimed he was responsible for a public statement denying money was paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

Hogan Gidley appeared on CNN Monday afternoon to discuss with Jake Tapper a blockbuster moment in the Manhattan criminal court where Trump stands accused of falsifying business records to cover up hush money paid ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

"Nothing like being name-checked in this trial," said Gidley. "Honestly, I don't even remember that situation or that comment."

Gidley made light of Hicks' testimony and any roll his name might play in the ongoing criminal trial.

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"I'm not afraid to stand up and say, if I said I'm the one who did it, 'Of course," Gidley said. "But t's always kinda funny to watch these things kind of bleed out of the courtroom."

Gidley said he was contact by multiple reporters after Hicks testified she believed he'd given a statement to the Wall Street Journal for a Jan. 12, 2018, article entitled "Trump Lawyer Arranged $130,000 Payment for Adult-Film Star's Silence."

"No big deal, " Gidley said. "No harm, no foul, but it's just kinda funny."

"Are you are you still in touch with Hope Hicks?" Tapper pressed him.

"We talk in texts pretty regularly," confirmed Gidley. "I just had to chuckle at some of those comments she made."

Gidley then tapped into his knowledge of Hicks for an analysis of the impact Friday's testimony had on his former colleague.

"I can imagine how gut-wrenching this is for her, someone who served the White House, who always had Donald Trump's best interests at heart," said Gidley. "Then she kinda goes into private life doing what she wants to do personally, professionally, and then kinda gets pulled back into these types of things.

"You saw kind of where her heart is on these matters when she broke down in tears, I think they had to even take a recess because of it," Gildey said. "So she's a great person, and I hate the fact that that these slime balls are trying to bring her into this whole process."

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