“The opening of Donald Trump’s first criminal trial on Monday will put to the test a defense strategy his lawyers have been honing for a year — a confrontational gambit that has angered the judge and could cost the presidential candidate dearly when it comes to a verdict,” the Washington Post reports.
“Fight for every scrap of evidence. Push for every possible delay. The approach has succeeded so far in Trump’s three other pending criminal cases, potentially pushing all of them into or past November’s presidential election. Surprisingly it is in Manhattan, at a courthouse notorious for lengthy delays before many criminal trials, that the former president and presumptive Republican nominee will face his first judgment day.”
“Trump’s defense strategy in New York is unique from the other three cases in one respect — he aims to deny involvement in the key conversations about hush money payments made through his former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen.”