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 Curtis Means/ReutersDonald Trump's criminal trial in Manhattan will be on hiatus Wednesday as Judge Juan Merchan takes the day to work on other cases—which is probably just as well, as it gives the public a chance to digest some of the most explosive claims made so far in the first trial ever of a former U.S. president.
After just two days of testimony, prosecutors have already asked the judge to hold Trump in contempt for violating a gag order with a series of social media posts. While the judge has held off on ruling so far, he tore into Trump's lead lawyer Tuesday in a scene that may spell trouble for the former president's defense, telling attorney Todd Blanche: "Mr Blanche, you're losing all credibility, I have to tell you right now."
When the trial resumes Thursday, we'll be getting more from David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer. Pecker, the CEO of American Media Inc. during the 2016 presidential election, was grilled for around two-and-a-half hours on Tuesday about how he offered to act as Trump's "eyes and ears" during the Republican's campaign, using his tabloids to buy the exclusive rights to potentially damaging stories about Trump in an effort to make sure they never saw the light of day—a practice known as "catch and kill."
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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 Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/GettyAs his criminal trial gets underway with opening statements and the presentation of the first prosecution witness, defendant Donald Trump's defense lawyers signaled a "throw everything against the wall and see what sticks" strategy that may reflect a desperate attempt to find something-anything-that may appeal to a lone holdout juror.
Indeed, the phrase "you only need one"-or some variation of that-seems to have become mantra among reporters and legal commentators covering the trial. But the scenario of a lone holdout juror causing a "hung jury" and ensuing mistrial is neither the panacea Trump may believe it to be nor as grave a danger that those hoping for a Trump conviction fear it to be.
Classically strong defense opening statements usually vary between a near silent approach-sometimes defense counsel even reserve openings until later in the trial if the rules allow for it-in which the defense lawyer simply reminds the jury of the fact that the prosecution has the extremely high burden of proof and to scrutinize the evidence and witnesses carefully and an approach that lays out the theory of defense.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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 MSNBCA pair of students in New York City took it upon themselves to attend the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president on Tuesday, with one telling MSNBC afterwards that it was especially "funny" to see Donald Trump's lawyer, Todd Blanche, get "annihilated" by Judge Juan Merchan.
On Chris Jansing Reports, Hope Harrington and Owen Berenbom shared their experience in the courtroom. In addition to continued testimony from former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, Tuesday's proceedings saw Merchan grill Blanche, who struggled to defend what prosecutors say were Trump's repeated and willful violations of the gag order in the case. Merchan has not yet ruled on a potential punishment for Trump.
Harrington in particular recalled the moment Merchan told Blanche that his discursive responses to his questions meant that he was losing all credibility" with the court.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Donald Trump's New York hush money criminal trial continues Tuesday. Follow here for the latest live news updates, analysis and more.
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