El Chapo trial: Joaquín Guzman joked about arming infant daughter with AK47 in texts to wife, court hears

Here's more on last night's dramatic testimony alleging Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman ordered the assassination of a man who refused to shake his hand. 

Those following along with the trial have noted the oddity in the trial's level of secrecy, including keeping numerous court documents under seal. 

Here's a quick recap on yesterday via Reuters, in case you missed it: 

Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was a ruthless killer who ordered the murder of a man who had refused to shake his hand at a meeting, a prosecution witness told jurors at Guzman’s U.S. trial on Monday.

Jesus Zambada, the brother of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada who was Guzman’s alleged partner in running the Sinaloa Cartel, gave his most dramatic testimony after three days on the witness stand as he described Guzman’s involvement in a series of murders.

In a cross-examination, one of Guzman’s defense lawyers launched an attack on Zambada’s credibility, highlighting inconsistencies between his testimony and his original statements to U.S. prosecutors.

Vice News has just published this report on the trial from a journalist sitting inside the courtroom: 

The New York Post has reported on a religious figurine prominently displayed within a conference room used by El Chapo’s defence team. The figurine showed up Wednesday, one of Guzman’s lawyers told reporter Emily Saul, joking that it “miraculously appeared”. 

This morning also involved a 20-minute side-bar with the judge this morning about the testimony of Jesus Zambada Garcia and how it will effect parties outside of the case.

The upshot was that Guzman's defence team will be allowed to ask some questions, but not everything that it wanted to.

Cartel insider Jesus Zambada has testified the Sinaloa Cartel had organised a pool of protection money for Mexico’s former secretary of public security, Garcia Luna, totaling $50m. 

The funds were hand delivered to Mr Luna at times in briefcases by Mr Zambada, ensuring he would designate someone to become the head of police in Culiacan who was sympathetic to his brother, Mayo Zambada. 

Jesus Zambada continued his testimony about a protection money fund for Garcia Luna, Mexico’s former secretary of public security, saying in a second meeting with the official he handed over $3m in a suitcase to ensure his brother, Mayo Zambada, could perform his drug trafficking operations without interference. 

Mr Zambada also described a previous encounter with Mr Luna in which he handed $3m to him in a suitcase.

Jesus Zambada has claimed the Sinaloa Cartel bribed the top Mexcian law official under former President Felipe Calderón. 

But Garcia Luna is not alone; officials working underneath Mexico’s president-elect are also accused of corruption. 

Meanwhile, Mexico’s president-elect Andrés Manuel has said he may consider pardons for those accused of past act of corruption in an incredibly-timed interview. 

The president-elect added that the “tragic, horrible history of corruption, of impunity” across the country must come to an end.