In this episode Hawk discusses the events surrounding the release of the infamous "Access Hollywood" tape in October 2016, just weeks before the presidential election. Hawk, details how the tape, which featured Donald Trump making lewd comments about women, was incredibly damaging to his campaign and led many Republicans to withdraw their support or call for him to drop out of the race. In response, Trump's campaign worked with Russian intelligence and WikiLeaks to release hacked emails from the Clinton campaign as a distraction from the tape's fallout.
Hawk cites evidence from the Mueller Report and a 2020 Senate Intelligence Committee report, both of which confirmed that the Trump campaign welcomed and encouraged the release of emails stolen by Russian hackers and funneled through WikiLeaks. Roger Stone, a close Trump ally, had advance knowledge of the WikiLeaks releases and coordinated with the campaign to maximize their impact. The host emphasizes that every key member of Trump's campaign knew the emails had been hacked by Russian intelligence and exploited them for political gain.
The episode also touches on the ongoing criminal trial against Trump for the hush money payments made to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal. Hawk suggests that the campaign's urgency to "catch and kill" the Stormy Daniels story in the aftermath of the Access Hollywood tape was a factor in Trump's decision to pay her off. He criticizes Trump's defense attorney, Todd Blanche, for failing to effectively cross-examine Michael Cohen, a key witness in the trial.
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