What We Value
I pretty much ignored the “Trial of the Century” about the O.J. Simpson accusations that he killed his wife and her lover. That happened in 1995 and I was close to being at the height of my career in investment banking. I was busy running around the world and building a global investment business. It was the year that my youngest son was born. The last thing I cared about was the moment-buy-moment theatrics of a celebrity murder case. I am in a very different place today, thirty years later (as is O.J., rest his soul), so the Donald Trump trial taking place in Manhattan is very much at the center of my consciousness. I am following it day-by-day and today was day 11 with the star witness being his ex-assistant, Hope Hicks. So far we have seen his ex-colleagues and associates march up to the witness stand one after another. It began with David Pecker, a thirty-year acquaintance and has and will run through all of his closest confidants including his banker (Gary Farro, who, strangely enough was also my banker for many years…another one degree of separation), his lawyer (the much-awaited Michael Cohen), his secretary and Hope, who supposedly would steam his suit pants with him in them as he headed out on stage during the 2016 campaign.
Given the time zone differences, I wait in the morning for the trial to start, knowing that I will get a good update when they break for lunch and then I have hours and hours of pundit news recaps after the court day wraps up. Since the NYC court does not allow live broadcast, the updates come in several forms. There is the contemporaneous texts from the journalists in the room where its happening, then there is the precise transcripts that come out with some short delay as well some of the actual video and audio evidence that was used in court and was later made available to the public. Today’s Hope Hicks testimony was being used by the prosecution to prepare for the Michael Cohen testimony by establishing that she was in many of the same meetings and could corroborate his testimony since the defense will clearly be attacking Cohen with no hesitation as a cornerstone of their defense. She went so far as to establish that Cohen would likely not have quietly made the payments himself out of the goodness of his heart as Trump had suggested to her. She also very clearly established that Trump was well aware that the payment had been made by Cohen as he was preparing to phony up the records of the reimbursement. Hicks dropped the big bombshells at the end of hir direct testimony and when the cross-examination began it seems the magnitude of the truth-bomb she had just leveled on her ex-boss hit her and she began to weep uncontrollably.
Last night on MSNBC’s Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell (an avowed Trump hater who actually prevailed against him in an attempted defamation lawsuit some years ago), O’Donnell told the story of the day with a decided tilt. He was not in the least bit sympathetic to Hope Hicks for all the difficulty and angst she had suffered yesterday. Instead, he lambasted her for being a beautiful woman of privilege who took full advantage of being in a power spot and showed no conscience by staying with Trump despite all her cumulative knowledge of just how bad a person he was. She was the first person on his team to hear of the Access Hollywood tape. She stayed with him through Charlottesville. She even stayed with him for a while after January 6th. And O’Donnell rejected any notion that she deserves consideration from finally coming clean about him at this time. He sees her cumulative actions as irredeemable and unworthy of any praise.
Nothing I have heard so far about Hope Hick’s testimony surprises me. Her departure from Trump’s inner circle happened in early 2021 after she had to admit during Congressional hearings that she had told “white lies” in her role as White House communications director. It was also clear that she disagreed about the election being stolen and that she was disturbed by the events of January 6th. It is clear that she chose to distance herself from Trump since then, but it is equally clear that she has never been critical of Trump, thereby trying to walk that fine line as well as anyone can. That approach may suit her sensibilities and make her feel somewhat absolved for her complicity, but as O’Donnell points out, there are too many people who do the right thing sooner to give Hope Hicks much cover to hide behind.
What has been surprising to me is the commentary about her courtroom demeanor vis-a-vis Trump and his demeanor towards her. It was reported that there was no recognition between the two to the point of coldness. She did not acknowledge him and he did not acknowledge her. That is amazing given the intimate nature of their relationship over the many years she worked for Trump. Even O’Donnell, who has been in the courtroom several days, drew a snarling reaction from Trump. Michael Cohen is certain to have a very interesting interaction with Trump when he enters the courtroom in the next week or so in this trial. Cohen enjoyed at least as close a relationship as Hicks but he is clearly a man scorned, the first (and certainly not last … nod to Peter Navarro) man who went to prison for doing the bidding of Donald Trump. He has been anything but silent about his animosity for Trump, but then, that seems more in keeping with Michael Cohen’s inherent character. Hope Hicks is clearly a more poised person who would be unlikely to speak ill of anyone. I revert to a favorite old expression that she wouldn’t say shit if she had a moth full of it, which she clearly did. The common thread that intrigues me is that none of these people who worked with Trump, whether they are in jail or trying to quietly fade away, think well of their time with him. That seems the case for aids, employees and even cabinet members. Even his Vice President, Mike Pence, has become the first Veep in history to NOT endorse his ex boss for the next election. They all pretty much rue the day they hooked up with Trump, which is the theme that Cohen has been trumpeting for several years now since he himself got out of jail for aiding Trump’s hush money scheme…the very same thing that is the center of the current trial.
I have often said that the most valuable aspect of my term in business leadership has been the good feelings that was engendered in my staff. The fact that so many of my ex-employees are more complimentary than not about their time spent working with me is of great value to me. I value those good feelings far more than any awards or compensation I may have received for my leadership success. Everything else is fleeting by comparison as those sentiments. As they say, when you pass from this world, it is the thoughts that remain in the minds of those who knew you and were close to you that matter the most. I do not want statues or monuments erected to me, but I do hope that when people hear of my passing they will think good thoughts about our time spent together. I suspect that from what we can see of the Trump landscape at this point, there are unlikely to be too many statues of monuments to the man (about as many as remain for Hitler, Mussolini or Stalin, I imagine), but more importantly, there will only be a few who remember his fondly rather than wonder what were they thinking when they chose to associate with him or chose to stay longer than they should have with him. Those ill feelings that I predict for him are a very special level of hell that even Dante missed and I suspect his dreams during this trial are plagued with a few of those previews of Donald’s own impending passage through that hell.