(CNN) White House communications director Hope Hicks, who on Wednesday announced she plans to leave the White House, testified to the House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday that she has told what amounted to white lies for President Donald Trump.

Three sources from both parties with knowledge of her testimony told CNN that she was talking about small matters -- like telling people Trump was in a meeting when he wasn't. Hicks' larger point was that she argued she didn't lie on bigger substantive issues like those involving the Russia investigation, the sources said.

When Rep. Pete King, R-New York, asked her if those white lies meant spinning news favorably for her boss, as any press secretary does, she concurred, according to the sources.

The back-and-forth over lies started when a lawmaker pressed Hicks on whether she had ever lied for the President. Her acknowledgment apparently caused some concern among her attorneys, with whom she consulted for roughly 20 minutes during that line of questioning, the sources said.

Hicks' testimony spanned more than nine hours on Tuesday, and she addressed a range of questions about the 2016 campaign and some queries about the transition -- after prodding from lawmakers -- though she would not discuss her time in the White House.

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