Hope Hicks: Donald Trump's communications chief admits telling 'white lies' for president

President's communications chief confesses to minor fibs as investigators probe 'collusion' with Russia

Donald Trump's long-time aide Hope Hicks has reportedly admitted telling “white lies” for the President on occasion.

But the White House communications director declined to answer questions about her time working for Mr Trump since his inauguration, saying lawyers had advised her not to do so.

In a private nine-hour testimony to the House intelligence committee, Ms Hicks insisted she had not lied on the President’s behalf about anything substantive. She was spokeswoman for Mr Trump during the 2016 election campaign, and as one of his closest aides, she is a key witness to his actions.

The panel is investigating Russian interference in the election and any contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia.

The top Democrat on the panel, Adam Schiff, said afterwards that Ms Hicks had answered questions about the election campaign and had answered some questions about the transition period between the election and the inauguration - but that she would not answer any questions about events since the Republican took the oath of office, similar to some other White House officials who have given evidence.

Mr Schiff said Ms Hicks did not assert any type of executive privilege, but that she said had received legal advice not to answer.

Another committee member, Republican Tom Rooney, said Ms Hicks's answer was completely unrelated to the Russia investigation.

“When specifically asked whether or not she was instructed to lie by the President, or the candidate, with regard to Russia, the investigation or our investigation, the answer to that question was no,” Mr Rooney said.

“And that's our jurisdiction. Not whether or not he asked her to cancel a meeting for him, or something like that.”

In a series of tweets before the hearing, Mr Trump quoted cable news commentators who said they had not seen evidence of collusion between him and Russia. One tweet encouraged investigations of rival candidate Hillary Clinton. Another said: “WITCH HUNT!”

The White House has said the President was involved in drafting a statement last summer after it was revealed that campaign officials and Russians held a meeting in 2016.

The statement said the meeting primarily concerned a Russian adoption scheme, though emails released later showed that Mr Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, enthusiastically agreed to talk to a Russian lawyer and others after he was promised “dirt” on Mrs Clinton. Ms Hicks was with the president on Air Force One while they were writing the initial statement.

“All of our questions about what went into that statement went unanswered,” Mr Schiff said.

As the interview wore on, Ms Hicks and her lawyer relented, after speaking to the White House, on one area of questioning - the transition period between the election and the inauguration.

She initially refused to answer questions on it, but Mr Schiff said it became clear that she had talked about that period to the Senate intelligence panel. That committee is also investigating the meddling and spoke to Ms Hicks several months ago.

Republicans on the committee subpoenaed Steve Bannon, Mr Trump’s former chief strategist, when he had similarly declined to answer questions about the transition period. Mr Bannon had accused the President’s son and others of “treasonous” behaviour for agreeing to the meeting with Russians in 2016.

Asked about Ms Hicks's refusal to answer some questions, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said: “We are cooperating, because as the president has said repeatedly, there is no collusion, and we're going to continue to cooperate, and hopefully they'll wrap this up soon.”

AP contributed to this report.