Media Ask Judge to Allow Televising of Federal Trump Election Trial

Former President Donald Trump appears in the courtroom, with attorney Christopher M. Kise, for the third day of his civil fraud trial at New York State Supreme Court, on Oct. 4, 2023. (Mary Altafeer / Pool/Getty Images)

More than a dozen media outlets have asked a federal judge to grant permission to allow recording and telecasts inside the courtroom next year, hoping to televise the case special counsel Jack Smith has brought against former President Donald Trump.

President Trump was indicted and pleaded not guilty on four counts in Washington, D.C., over his actions to challenge the 2020 election results, and the case goes to trial March 4, 2024.

The historic trial will begin just one day before at least 15 states begin their Republican primaries, known as “Super Tuesday.”

The media outlets asked that video and audio recordings of the trial be released publicly at the end of each day if the judge would not allow press into the room.

“And, to be meaningful in the unique circumstances of this case, that right must include a right of first-hand observation beyond those few dozen people who are able to squeeze into the courtroom,” the filing reads. “Since the founding of our Nation, we have never had a criminal case where securing the public’s confidence will be more important than with United States v. Donald J. Trump.”

They argued that allowing for real-time broadcast of the trial will “be a critical step in stemming false conspiracy theories across the spectrum of public opinion, regardless of the outcome of the trial.”

Save for the pandemic period when trials were conducted remotely, there is a federal rule that prohibits cameras in the courtroom during criminal trials.

The media organizations are arguing this rule violates the First Amendment, and that it prohibits all but a few Americans—those who have the resources and wherewithal to travel to the courthouse and wait in line for a limited number of seats—from watching a trial the likes of which the nation has never experienced.”

Trump attorney John Lauro has previously also spoken in favor of having the trial televised. He told reporters he would request to have news cameras in the courtroom if it went to trial, “so that all Americans can see what’s happening in our criminal justice system.”

“And I would hope that the Department of Justice would join in that effort so that we take that curtain away and all Americans get to see what’s happening,” he told Fox News.

Motion to Dismiss

Also on Thursday, President Trump’s legal team filed a motion to dismiss the case entirely.

They argue that as he was president at the time of the alleged crimes, he is “absolutely immune from prosecution.”

“Presidential immunity” has in U.S. Supreme Court rulings been expanded to include acts on the “outer perimeter” of the president’s duties, covering not just official acts in the office.

The case against President Trump, his attorneys argue, is “breaking 234 years of precedent.”

“The prosecution does not, and cannot, argue that President Trump’s efforts to ensure election integrity, and to advocate for the same, were outside the scope of his duties,” they wrote.

“Instead, the prosecution falsely claims that President Trump’s motives were impure—that he purportedly ‘knew’ that the widespread reports of fraud and election irregularities were untrue but sought to address them anyway. But as the Constitution, the Supreme Court, and hundreds of years of history and tradition all make clear, the president’s motivations are not for the prosecution or this court to decide.”

U.S. District Judge Tonya Chutkan will need to rule on the motion after the Department of Justice has the opportunity to respond.

She recently declined to step down from the case after President Trump’s team filed a motion calling for her recusal, citing remarks she made about the former president during other Jan. 6-related sentencings. She denied any bias in the statements and ruled that she did not pre-judge President Trump as guilty.

Televised Trial

President Trump is also facing charges against him for his contesting of the 2020 election results in Georgia state court, and this trial will be televised.

Judge Scott McAfee has already been livestreaming on YouTube all court proceedings in the high-profile case that names the former president and 18 other defendants.

Several defendants are seeking removal of their case to federal court, where it would not be televised.

Two of the defendants, Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell, will go to trial on Oct. 23, in what is expected to be a preview of what President Trump will face.

Last week, the first of the 19 defendants accepted a plea bargain from the prosecutors, and will be testifying against the remaining 18 defendants.

President Trump faces another two criminal trials, in New York and in Florida, and has already been to court this week in a civil case against him and Trump Organization in New York. He has maintained he did nothing wrong, and that these prosecutions are election interference on the behalf of the incumbent president, his main political rival for the 2024 race.