Former President Donald Trump waits for the continuation of his civil business fraud trial at the New York Supreme Court, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, POOL)
Attorneys representing former president Donald Trump have sided with a conglomerate of media entities seeking to have his federal election fraud trial broadcast live on television next year, an unprecedented request for a defendant in a federal criminal trial.
Trump was indicted in Washington, D.C., earlier this year for allegedly conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election and is scheduled to go to trial in March 2024.
“The prosecution wishes to continue this travesty in darkness. President Trump calls for sunlight,” Trump’s attorney, John F. Lauro, wrote in a five-page petition filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. “Every person in America, and beyond, should have the opportunity to study this case firsthand and watch as, if there is a trial, President Trump exonerates himself of these baseless and politically motivated charges.”
The filing is virtually bereft of relevant legal arguments as to why the former president’s trial should be televised, a request that would directly violate the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure prohibition on photography and filming in the courthouse. The submission does not mention the federal rule that precludes cameras during proceedings.
The document is, however, brimming with baseless allegations that Trump is being politically persecuted by the Department of Justice at the direction of the Biden administration.
“For the first time in American history, an incumbent administration has charged its main, leading electoral opponent with a criminal offense. Aware that its charges are meritless, the prosecution has sought to proceed in secret, forcing the nation and the world to rely on biased, secondhand accounts coming from the Biden Administration and its media allies,” the document states. “President Trump absolutely agrees, and in fact demands, that these proceedings should be fully televised so that the American public can see firsthand that this case, just like others, is nothing more than a dreamt-up unconstitutional charade that should never be allowed to happen again.”
The former president also repeatedly alleges — without providing evidence — that President Joe Biden, the Justice Department, and U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan have been intentionally attempting to derail his bid to return to the White House in 2024.
“The prosecution, betraying its solemn obligation to ensure that ‘justice shall be done,’ has sought these inexcusable constitutional violations as part of a coordinated effort to undermine President Trump’s candidacy as he faces, and leads, President Biden in the 2024 Presidential Election. Despite systemic prosecutorial misconduct, this Court has not acted to either ensure or protect President Trump’s constitutional rights. There is a high risk that proceeding behind closed doors under these circumstances would serve to further undermine confidence in the United States justice system, while continuing to prejudice President Trump’s rights.”
Trump is the front-runner to win the Republican Party’s presidential nomination despite multiple looming and ongoing criminal and civil trials.
Prosecutors working under special counsel Jack Smith last week cited the federal ban on video and photography in response to multiple media companies requesting to broadcast the proceedings live on television. That filing also stated that Trump and his attorneys had “no position” on whether his trial should be televised.
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