White House Communication Director thanked Trump’s administration

The upshot has been another week of sizzling palace intrigue: Hope Hicks is resigning as communications director, a move announced Wednesday that leaves Trump without the woman known as one of his most trusted aides, and one that comes after her appearance before the House Intelligence Committee this week.

In August 2017, she was promoted to become the fourth White House communications director under Mr Trump.

Some Trump allies outside the White House see Kelly’s hand in her departure, regarding it as a move that will allow him to assert greater control over West Wing staff and access to the president.

“To say that she will be missed, is an understatement”, Kelly said.

But it’s a measure of her fierce loyalty to the boss, and lack of concern for her own image, that she didn’t try to spin her own departure.

If Hicks goes that route, she’ll have plenty of time for a vacation first: Ethics rules require a one year “cooling off” period before becoming a lobbyist. In her testimony, Hicks admitted that she had occasionally been required to tell “little white lies”, though nothing connected to Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Meanwhile, Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and advisor, was not approved for a top-secret security clearance, leading to questions about whether he can perform his job. “She couldn’t answer it”.

Trump paid tribute to Hicks’ “outstanding” contribution over the past three years, calling her “as smart and thoughtful as they come, a truly great person”.

Hicks had helped craft the official response to the scandal, despite her personal involvement with Porter.

“Wishing Hope Hicks all the best!” “What she was doing is what any honest human being would say”. Hicks, who resigned Wednesday, won’t leave her post for weeks. Not the nine-hour testimony that she gave of her knowledge of what Russian collusion or lack thereof may have been in the 2016 election cycle, but this one nugget.

I first met Hope Hicks, who had worked for Ivanka’s business, in the first week of the Trump candidacy, when she and Corey Lewandowski were pretty much the campaign.

Ms Hicks did more than steer messaging. Often, she could single-handedly arrange time with the easily distracted president.

Democrats asked for a subpoena after Hicks then refused to detail whether other Trump advisers and staffers had asked her to lie.

During that testimony she admitted occasionally having told “white lies” on behalf of Mr Trump, but said she had not lied about anything relevant to the Russian Federation probe.

Hicks took a second timeout to confer with her lawyers, again for about five to 10 minutes.

Republicans reacted cautiously Thursday to President Donald Trump’s call for quick and substantial changes to the nation’s gun laws, while elated Democrats said they will try to hold Trump to his promises.

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with bipartisan members of the Congress at the Cabinet Room of the White House February 28, 2018 in Washington, DC.