Measles outbreak kills at least 42 people in northeast Nigeria
The deaths were recorded out of nearly 200 suspected measles cases in the state of Adamawa, official says. At least 42 people have died from a measles outbreak in a little more than a week in Nigeria’s northeastern state of Adamawa, the state’s health commissioner says. Felix Tangwami said on Friday that the measles outbreak had mostly affected two local government areas where nearly 200 suspected cases were identified. “Measles vaccines have been released to those areas and our field teams are containing the situation,” he said at a media briefing. Measles is a highly contagious, airborne virus that mostly affects children under the age of five. It can be prevented by two doses of vaccine. Its early symptoms include high fever, cough and runny nose. It also often causes rashes and bumps all over the body of the patient. More than 50 million measles deaths have been averted through vaccinations since 2000, according to the World Health Organization. Widespread insecurity in many northern Nigerian states is often blamed for disruptions in vaccination campaigns, leaving children particularly vulnerable. Since the armed group Boko Haram started launching attacks in Nigeria in 2009, more than two million people have been displaced from their homes, spawning one of the world’s worst ongoing humanitarian crises. Criminal gangs have further deepened security woes in northwestern Nigeria. The COVID-19 pandemic has also disrupted the health system and vaccination programmes in parts of the country, according to Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF. MSF said earlier this year that the inability of public health actors in Nigeria “to achieve the 95 percent vaccination rate required to suppress measles” led to an alarming rise in the number of people affected by the virus last year. MSF said it treated 3,965 patients between October and December. “This is notably due to the difficulties for health workers in accessing rural communities surrounding Maiduguri,” Jombo Tochukwu-Okoli, MSF medical activity manager at the Gwange Pediatric Hospital in the capital of the northeastern state of Borno, said in a statement in February. The virus can spread quickly among unvaccinated children. “One infected child can spread the virus to between nine and 12 other unvaccinated children,” Tochukwu-Okoli said. Adblock test (Why?)
Children, infants missing after Tunis police clear makeshift refugee camps
Police cleared two of the Tunisian capital’s irregular Black migrant camps, busing residents to an unknown location. Tunis, Tunisia – Hundreds of refugees and migrants camped in the centre of Tunis have disappeared, with reports suggesting that the group, including several infants, had been abandoned in the desert near Algeria. According to local media reports, security forces swept into the encampments in the prosperous Berge de Lac business district early on Friday, rounding up men, women and children and destroying the shelters they had built. One encampment was in a walled-off public park and the other was in an alleyway outside the United Nations’s International Organization for Migration (IOM). A sit-in was being held by roughly 100 other refugees, principally from Sudan, outside the UNHCR’s offices, 6.6km (four miles) away. Several infants born in Tunisia to refugee or migrant mothers were present when Al Jazeera visited the IOM camp on Tuesday. The Refugees in Libya organisation retained some contact with the missing individuals who were able to communicate from the buses the police had forced them onto. 🚨Ongoing mass desert dumping by the Tunisian authorities. Yesterday at approximately 3 am, multiple police forces including special riot control and anti-terrorism units dismantled the protest camp outside the UNHCR office in the Lac zone of Tunis. Hundreds of refugees and… pic.twitter.com/5uaYxDmR75 — Refugees In Libya (@RefugeesinLibya) May 3, 2024 This was broken off at around 7pm (18:00 GMT) after phone batteries failed. According to the group’s spokesperson, David Yambio, the refugees and migrants had been let out of the buses about 5km (three miles) from the northwestern city of Jendouba, near the Algerian border. “Babies and infants are hungry and thirsty, they told me,” he wrote by email, “The police told them nothing except for beatings and insults.” Several nationalities were sheltering in central Tunis: Chadians, Sierra Leoneans and many Sudanese. A significant number held cards issued by the UNHCR and, though Tunisia has no asylum laws, were still able to access basic medical care and a small stipend. Video shared by Refugees in Libya showed police raiding the camp late at night, before showing refugees and migrants, including women and infants, being transported to the desert near Algeria. Crews came out to clear the debris on May 3, 2024 [Al Jazeera] Calls and emails to the IOM requesting details of the raid and what, if any, provision had been made for the people’s safety have so far gone unanswered. Past accounts from refugees and migrants who had been bussed to the Algerian border have frequently included robbery by Tunisian gangs, as the groups try to walk back to Tunis and what they hope might be security. Accusations by rights groups that refugees and migrants are being expelled by Tunisia to the Algerian and Libyan borders are longstanding, but Tunisian authorities have consistently denied the practice, which would breach international law, NGO Avocats Sans Frontieres (Lawyers without Borders) said. Criticism of Tunisia’s treatment of the irregular Black refugee and migrant population who enter the country en route to Europe is not new. Human Rights Watch, Avocats Sans Frontieres and Amnesty International have repeatedly condemned the Tunisian police and officials for their treatment of the vulnerable community. The migrant camp outside the IOM, Tunis before the police raid [Al Jazeera] Adblock test (Why?)
What’s behind the US generational divide on Israel’s war on Gaza?
Polls suggest an increasing number of young Americans are siding with Palestinians and growing critical of Israel. Successive US administrations across the political divide have backed Israel since it was created in 1948. But polls suggest that public support for Israel in the United States now appears to be waning, especially among young people. A Pew Research study two years ago indicated that only 41 percent in the age group of 18 to 29 had a favourable view of Israel. And many students from this generation are now protesting on university campuses against the war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 35,000 Palestinians. So, is the anger among young Americans highlighting a generational divide in Washington’s policy towards Israel? And what are the reasons reshaping public opinion? Presenter: Nick Clark Guests: Clair Davenport – Student at Columbia Journalism School Julie Norman – Deputy director at UCL Centre on US Politics Keir Milburn – Author of Generation Left, a book examining generational differences Adblock test (Why?)
Fox News Politics: Mr. Broke It
Welcome to Fox News’ Politics newsletter with the latest political news from Washington D.C. and updates from the 2024 campaign trail. What’s happening? – Trump’s criminal trial wraps up its third week – University president breaks silence on anti-Israel agitators – Only pro-life Dem in Congress indicted During the 11th day of the criminal trial in the case N.Y. v. Trump, former Trump campaign and White House communications director testified that Michael Cohen, Trump’s ex-lawyer, would often frustrate campaign staff and do things that were not helpful. On the witness stand, Hicks testified that Cohen “used to like to call himself Mr. Fix It, but it was only because he first broke it.” Hicks testified under subpoena for the prosecution. She praised the former president at times, and got choked up when Trump’s attorney asked her about her time working for the Trump Organization. Cohen is a central player and could be the star witness for Manhattan District Attorney Bragg’s case against the former president that he falsified business records connected to a payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to quiet her claims alleging an illicit affair with Trump in the early 2000s. Trump paid a $9,000 fine for violating the judge’s gag order ruling Friday, but there are still four more alleged violations that Judge Juan Merchan has yet to rule on. Trial resumes on Monday at 9:30 a.m. ‘FLOOD THE GATES’: Guide to ‘escalate’ campus chaos spread among agitators at Ivy League …Read more PROSECUTOR’S PRIORITIES: NYC DA probes cop’s ‘unintentional discharge’ in Columbia campus raid …Read more NO MORE TESTS! Columbia Law Review editors argue that school cancel finals after mass arrests …Read more ‘CAUSE FOR CONCERN: Biden brings up Islamophobia amid worst antisemitism outbreak in decades …Read more ‘OVERLY BROAD’: Bill designed to combat antisemitism raises bipartisan free speech concerns …Read more ‘I LOVE YOU’: Video reveals ‘Squad’ Democrat’s message to anti-Jewish agitators during encampment Zoom call …Read more CHARGES FILED: Justice Department indicts Dem Rep. Henry Cuellar …Read more ‘RAISED YOU RIGHT’: Lawmaker praises frat brothers for defending American flag …Read more ‘EVERYTHING IN OUR POWER’: Biden opens up Obamacare to illegal immigrants shielded by DACA …Read more FAITH IN REPUBLICANS: Catholics’ support swings for Trump over Biden by significant margin: poll …Read more BE MORE HUMBLE: Politico founder warns media ahead of election …Read more BIG RISK: Bernie Sanders warns Biden’s pro-Israel position may sink his presidency …Read more Subscribe now to get Fox News Politics newsletter in your inbox. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.
Prosecutors repeatedly reference Trump’s Access Hollywood scandal after judge ruled tape itself ‘prejudicial’
New York City prosecutors again made numerous references on Friday to the leaked Access Hollywood tape where former President Donald Trump made crude comments — after the judge reiterated that the jury could not hear or watch the comments. Judge Juan Merchan ruled that playing the tape itself would be overly prejudicial towards Trump, but not the comments Trump made in the 2005 incident that leaked just before the 2016 presidential election. In the tape, Trump used lewd language about groping women in the presence of a TV host ahead of a cameo appearance on a soap opera. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his team have made numerous references to the tape — in court and in legal filings — apparently attempting to make the case that the damage from the leaked tape was a catalyst for the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels. Trump is charged with falsifying business records related to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, to quiet her story about an alleged affair with Trump. Trump has repeatedly denied the affair. On Friday, Merchan reiterated that the tape cannot be introduced as evidence or played aloud in the courtroom because it would be prejudicial to Trump. NY V. TRUMP: WITNESS SAYS COHEN DREAMED OF WHITE HOUSE JOB DESPITE DENYING AMBITIONS IN HOUSE TESTIMONY In March, the DA argued the infamous tape should be admissible because “bears directly on defendant’s intent and motive, both at the time that he and his confederates made the Stormy Daniels payoff and later when they sought to conceal that payment.” “The release of the Access Hollywood Tape caused a panic within the campaign about the defendant’s electoral prospects and ultimately served as the catalyst for consummating the Stormy Daniels payoff,” a filing stated. Last month, Judge Merchan doubled down on his decision to not play the video for the jury because it was too prejudicial. But on Friday morning, the prosecution again tried to argue that while it was ruled that the entire Access Hollywood tape couldn’t come into evidence, they wanted the 2016 Washington Post article that discusses it to come in to establish the date that the article was posted. Merchan reiterated that he doesn’t want the video to be shown because it’s too powerful of evidence to have Trump’s voice and face associated with the words on the video. On Friday, former Trump campaign press secretary and White House communications director Hope Hicks testified that Trump’s worry following the leaked tape centered around how it would affect his wife, Melania Trump. HOPE HICKS: COHEN CALLED HIMSELF ‘MR. FIX IT’ ONLY BECAUSE HE ‘BROKE IT’ “He was worried about how this would be viewed at home,” Hicks said. “Mr. Trump really values Mrs. Trump’s opinion. She doesn’t weigh in all the time, but when she does…it’s valuable,” Hicks testified. “[I] don’t think he wanted anyone in his family to be hurt or embarrassed about anything on the campaign. He wanted them to be proud of him,” Hicks later added. Her testimony, which she provided to the court under subpoena, could undercut the prosecution’s arguments that the Trump tape was a catalyst to the Stormy Daniels payment out of concern about how a subsequent bad media hit would impact his campaign. The defense team argued earlier in the day that the recent decision in the case of the disgraced Hollywood producer, Harvey Weinstein, could be relevant in Trump’s case. Weinstein’s conviction was recently overturned by the New York State Court of Appeals after the court granted him a new trial, saying the trial judge had allowed prosecutors to call women who said Weinstein had assaulted them to testify, even though their accusations did not specifically relate to the entertainment mogul’s charges. Trump’s defense team argued that the prosecution has been attempting to introduce evidence, including the Access Hollywood tape, that is not directly related to Trump’s alleged crimes. The decision to overturn the Weinstein conviction relied on two courtroom terms: the “Molineux rule” and a “Sandoval ruling.” NY V. TRUMP: HOPE HICKS TESTIFIES, PROSECUTORS REFER TO ‘ACCESS HOLLYWOOD’ TAPE The Molineux rule says that evidence of prior uncharged crimes or acts committed by an individual may not be entered into evidence in order to infer the guilt of the defendant. Such prior acts may be entered into evidence for certain other reasons, like establishing intent, or knowledge, but such uncharged acts may not be entered in a manner that could taint the jury’s opinion as to the likelihood that the defendant committed the crime charged. In Trump’s case, defense attorney Todd Blanche argued Friday that evidence is being introduced that does not establish elements of the crime charged, but rather implies Trump’s guilt. A Sandoval ruling addresses a defendant potentially testifying at their own trial. Prosecutors typically ask to introduce, and the defense typically asks to limit, past allegations of behavior or actions by the defendant. A defendant may choose not to testify based on what the judge allows prosecutors to question the defendant about. But the issue in Trump’s case would be whether a defendant was prevented altogether from testifying in their own defense by the allowance of questions from the prosecutor that would prejudice the jury. Before adjourning for the day, both parties continued to discuss the Sandoval rule and what questions Trump could be asked if he testifies. It’s unclear whether Trump will testify later in the course of the unprecedented trial. Fox News’ Kevin Ward, Grace Taggart, Maria Pavovich, Shannon Bream and Kerri Kupec Urbahn contributed to this report.
Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry, other Biden allies awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom
President Biden honored 19 individuals with the United States’ highest civilian award on Friday, many of whom are Democratic allies. The White House announced the roster for the annual Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony, with notable recipients including former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former Vice-President Al Gore, and former Secretary of State John Kerry. Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, who gave Biden a critical endorsement in the 2020 primary, also received the medal. BIDEN ANNOUNCES MEDAL OF FREEDOM FOR DENZEL WASHINGTON, STEVE JOBS, SIMONE BILES, JOHN MCCAIN, OTHERS “The Presidential Medal of Freedom, our nation’s highest civilian award — we the people doing what we can to ensure the idea of America, the cause of freedom, shines like the sun to light up the future of the world,” Biden said of the medal in a video promoting the latest recipients. Civil rights leaders are well-represented among the recipients, including: LGBTQ activist Judy Shepard, Juneteenth recognition advocate Opal Lee, lawyer Clarence Jones, and Mississippi civil rights leader Medgar Evers. United Farm Workers president Teresa Romero received the award — as well as Catholic priest Fr. Greg Boyle, an anti-gang ministry organizer. IN TEARFUL FAREWELL, OBAMA AWARDS BIDEN THE MEDAL OF FREEDOM Other recipients include long-time talk-show host Phil Donahue, Olympian Katie Ledecky, Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh, astronomer Jane Rigby, and former NASA Johnson Space Center director Ellen Ochoa. The first American Indian Olympic gold medalist, Jim Thorpe, received a posthumous award — as did the late Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey. The only Republican lawmaker recognized is former Sen. Elizabeth Dole, who served in the cabinets of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. The Presidential Medal of Freedom was established in 1963 by President John F. Kennedy. It replaced the Medal of Freedom established by President Harry S. Truman in 1945, which honored individuals who rendered significant aid to the U.S. in World War II. It is the highest civilian award in the nation and is intended to recognize “any person who has made an especially meritorious contribution to (1) the security or national interests of the United States, or (2) world peace, or (3) cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.” Biden himself received the medal from then-President Barack Obama while serving as his vice president on Jan. 12, 2017.
‘Damning’ report details Biden admin’s Big Tech ‘censorship’ push
Internal communications of executives from Big Tech companies reveal “damning discoveries” of the Biden administration’s attempt to muzzle the platforms, a new House committee report published this week revealed. Following House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan’s (R-Ohio) subpoena last year, tech giants like Google-parent Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft were investigated regarding their communications with the federal government. Jordan said at the time that he wanted to “understand how and to what extent the Executive Branch coerced and colluded with companies and other intermediaries to censor speech.” The House Judiciary Committee’s 800-page report, titled “The Censorship-industrial Complex: How Top Biden White House Officials Coerced Big Tech to Censor Americans, True Information, and Critics of the Biden Administration,” included several instances where the platforms censored information relating to COVID-19 due to top-down pressure. NSA ANNOUNCES NEW ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SECURITY CENTER: ‘DESPERATELY NEEDED’ The emails also revealed the Biden administration wanted to crack down on “vaccine misinformation,” while some executives were unwilling to cave to the pressure. Other executives did give in, to limit bigger issues. “Now, having obtained and reviewed tens of thousands of emails and other relevant nonpublic documents, the Committee and Select Subcommittee can provide a more complete picture of how and the extent to which the Biden White House coerced companies to suppress free speech,” the report noted. Big Tech altered their content-moderation policies in 2021, the report said. Facebook, YouTube and Amazon all adjusted their policies to censor information ranging from COVID-19 “misinformation” to what kinds of books were permissible on the Amazon Marketplace. “Indeed, both Facebook and Amazon referred to the Biden White House’s efforts as ‘pressure,’” the report said. HUNDREDS OF PARENTS DEMAND SCHUMER TAKE ACTION ON CHILD SOCIAL MEDIA SAFETY BILL: ‘PAID THE ULTIMATE PRICE’ The Biden White House’s censorship campaign also targeted true information, satire and other content not violating platform policies, according to the report. Internal emails from Facebook executives in July 2021 show that Facebook understood the Biden White House’s position as wanting “negative information on or opinions about the vaccine” removed as well as “humorous or satirical content that suggests the vaccine isn’t safe.” Facebook executive Nick Clegg questioned in July 2021 via email why the company censored the lab-leak theory of COVID-19. An employee replied, “Because we were under pressure from the [Biden] administration and others to do more…. We shouldn’t have done it.” GRAHAM TELLS ZUCKERBERG, ‘YOU HAVE BLOOD ON YOUR HANDS,’ AUDIENCE CHEERS CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Another instance in July 2021 revealed Facebook executives attempting to appease the Biden administration. Clegg emailed colleagues in the company that “[g]iven the bigger fish we have to fry with the [Biden] Administration,” Facebook should try to figure out “how we can be responsive to [the Administration’s] concerns.” The report comes as big tech companies have been under fire by both Republicans and Democrats in recent months. The Supreme Court heard arguments in March challenging the Biden administration’s alleged coordination with Big Tech to censor certain political messages.
Michigan Supreme Court rules against couple in dispute over privacy and drone photos of land
The Michigan Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of a local government Friday in a dispute over sending a drone to take pictures of a rural salvage yard without permission. Liberal and conservative groups closely watched the case, even joining together to urge the court to throw out evidence collected by Long Lake Township. MICHIGAN SUPREME COURT REJECTS ATTEMPT TO REMOVE TRUMP FROM BALLOT Todd and Heather Maxon had argued that the aerial photos violated their right to not have unreasonable searches. But the Supreme Court said the fight over excessive junk on the heavily wooded parcel was a civil action, not a criminal case, and that the so-called exclusionary rule doesn’t apply. “We decline to address whether the use of an aerial drone under the circumstances presented here is an unreasonable search in violation of the United States or Michigan Constitutions,” the court said in a 7-0 opinion. Without photos and video, the township “would have difficulty ensuring that the Maxons bring their property into conformity with its local zoning and nuisance ordinances,” the court said in a decision written by Justice Brian Zahra. The township in northern Michigan sent a drone over the property in 2017 and 2018 after neighbors claimed the Maxons were storing too many cars and other items. The township said the property was being turned into a salvage yard, a violation of an earlier lawsuit settlement. The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, the Cato Institute and the Rutherford Institute filed briefs on the side of the Maxons. The Michigan Townships Association and Michigan Municipal League backed the township.
Democratic officials criticize Meta ad policy, saying it amplifies lies about 2020 election
ATLANTA (AP) — Several Democrats serving as their state’s top election officials have sent a letter to the parent company of Facebook, asking it to stop allowing ads that claim the 2020 presidential election was stolen. In the letter addressed to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the secretaries of state from Colorado, Maine, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Vermont said allowing such ads will further erode trust in elections and fuel threats of political violence against election workers, which already has led some to leave the profession. Also signing the letter was Wisconsin Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski, who does not oversee elections. NEW TRUMP VOTER FRAUD SQUADS BEGIN GEARING UP FOR ‘ELECTION INTEGRITY’ FIGHT “Meta is allowing extremists and election deniers to further undermine our elections,” the secretaries wrote in the letter, which was emailed to the tech giant on Thursday. “As Secretaries of State, we are strongly opposed to Meta’s decision to allow ads promoting election denialism and urge you to repeal this policy before it inflicts more damage.” Nearly four years later, conspiracy theories surrounding the 2020 election and false claims of widespread fraud and manipulation of voting machines persist. Former President Donald Trump continues to insist, despite no evidence of widespread fraud, that he won that election as he seeks a return to the White House. Reviews, recounts and audits in the swing states where he disputed his loss have all affirmed Democrat Joe Biden’s victory, and even Trump’s former attorney general said there was no fraud on a scale that could have tipped the election. In an interview this week with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Trump falsely claimed he won Wisconsin despite losing to Biden by about 21,000 votes. Trump told the news outlet he would accept the results of the November election “if everything’s honest.” Since the 2020 election, election workers across parts of the country have faced death threats and harassment. A recent survey by the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU found that 34% of local election officials said they knew of one or more local election officials or election workers who left their job at least in part because of safety fears, threats or intimidation. The environment has led to a historic turnover of election workers throughout the country. YouTube, the Google-owned video service, announced a policy similar to Meta’s last year in which it said it would stop removing content that falsely claimed previous U.S. presidential elections were tainted by fraud. Meta has defended the work it’s doing to protect elections globally. A company spokesperson provided details about how the company views elections, referencing its 2022 plan for the midterm elections in which the company said it will “continually review content to determine if it violates our community standards, including our policies on election and voter interference, hate speech, coordinating harm and publicizing crime, and bullying and harassment.” As part of its work, Meta said it would remove election-related content that includes misinformation about the “dates, locations, times and methods of voting” along with calls for violence related to voting or the outcome of an election. In that plan, the company specified it would reject ads calling into question the legitimacy of an upcoming or ongoing election. But it’s the ads related to the 2020 election that have the group of Democratic secretaries of state concerned, including various campaign ads earlier this year repeating false claims that the election was rigged. The letter was organized by the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State, a political action committee affiliated with the Democratic National Committee, and was circulated only among Democrats. “When people believe an election was stolen they are less likely to have confidence in the system, and that depresses turnout,” Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said in an interview Friday. “We want voters to know the truth about elections and feel empowered to participate.”
Hope Hicks: Cohen called himself ‘Mr. Fix It’ only because he ‘broke it’
During the 11th day of the criminal trial in the case N.Y. v. Trump, former Trump campaign and White House communications director testified that Michael Cohen, Trump’s ex-lawyer, would often frustrate campaign staff and do things that were not helpful. On the witness stand, Hicks testified that Cohen “used to like to call himself Mr. Fix It, but it was only because he first broke it.” Cohen is a central player and is expected to be the star witness for Manhattan District Attorney Bragg’s case against the former president that he falsified business records connected to a payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to quiet her claims alleging an illicit affair with Trump in the early 2000s. Cohen arranged and made the $130,000 payment to Daniels, who was then paid by Trump for what were listed as legal expenses, but which the prosecution alleges were reimbursement for the payments for Daniels. NY V. TRUMP: WITNESS SAYS COHEN DREAMED OF WHITE HOUSE JOB DESPITE DENYING AMBITIONS IN HOUSE TESTIMONY Trump has denied the affair and pleaded not guilty to the 34 criminal counts. Michael Colangelo, a lawyer for the prosecution and former high-ranking official in the Justice Department, questioned Hicks — who served as the press secretary for Trump’s 2016 campaign — about Trump’s reaction to the “Access Hollywood” tape just prior to the 2016 presidential election, which captured Trump in 2005 making crude comments about women with a television host. The prosecution has continuously pushed for the tape to be played for the jury, but Judge Juan Merchan had repeatedly said the video is not admissible evidence and is too prejudicial to be played in the courtroom, though they could refer to the transcript. The tape, they argued in court filings, “bears directly on defendant’s intent and motive, both at the time that he and his confederates made the Stormy Daniels payoff and later when they sought to conceal that payment.” HUSH MONEY TRIAL JUDGE DOUBLES DOWN ON NOT SHOWING TRUMP ‘ACCESS HOLLYWOOD’ TAPE TO JURORS “The release of the Access Hollywood Tape caused a panic within the campaign about defendant’s electoral prospects and ultimately served as the catalyst for consummating the Stormy Daniels payoff,” a filing stated. On Friday, however, Hicks, who served in the Trump Organization before joining the campaign and eventually the White House as a close advisor to the president, testified that Trump’s main concern following the leak was the impact on his wife, Melania Trump. TRUMP DELIVERS PIZZA TO NEW YORK CITY FIREFIGHTERS IN CAMPAIGN STOP AFTER DAY IN COURT “He was worried about how this would be viewed at home,” Hicks said. “Mr. Trump really values Mrs. Trump’s opinion. She doesn’t weigh in all the time, but when she does… it’s valuable,” Hicks told defense attorney Emil Bove in cross-examination. According to Hicks, Trump asked that newspapers about the leaked tape not to be brought to the Trump residence. Bove asked Hicks about the impact on Trump’s family. “I don’t think he wanted anyone in his family to be hurt or embarrassed about anything on the campaign. He wanted them to be proud of him,” she responded. Fox News’ Grace Taggart, Maria Pavovich and Kerri Kupec Urbahn contributed to this report.