Special counsel Jack Smith urged a federal judge on Friday to bar media outlets from televising the election subversion case against former President Donald Trump in Washington, DC.
Last month, attorneys for a coalition of news organizations, including NBCUniversal, asked United States District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan to make an exception to the longstanding rule that prohibits broadcasting and photographing criminal proceedings in federal courts under the Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure.
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Prosecutors are trying to uphold the rule that states, “the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings” or broadcasting those proceedings unless a judge rules otherwise.
House Democrats have also pushed for live broadcasting of the court proceedings in the criminal cases against Trump. The former president’s defense attorney John Lauro agrees, telling Fox News Sunday in August he “would love to see that.”
“I personally would love to see that,” Lauro said. “I’m convinced the Biden administration does not want the American people to see the truth. And they acted on it by filing this protective order, which is an effort to keep important information about this case from the press.”
Chutkan gave Trump a week to respond to the media request, which he has yet to do, but Smith’s court filing notes that the former president’s counsel “has requested that government counsel convey that he takes no position with respect to these Applications.”
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On Aug. 1, Trump was indicted in connection to his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Smith’s yearslong investigation into Trump’s subverting the election results that led to the indictment is one of the most serious charges the president is facing among his several legal battles.
Despite the Justice Department rejecting calls for his trials to be televised, a large majority, 71%, think television cameras should be allowed in the courtroom for this specific trial, according to a Quinnipiac University poll conducted shortly after Trump’s indictment.
