DOJ Opposes Televising Trump’s DC Trial

The Justice Department said Wednesday it opposes a request from national media outlets to televise former President Donald Trump’s upcoming federal criminal trial in Washington, D.C. 

In the new filing, DOJ signaled it would elaborate in a Nov. 3 brief on its arguments against allowing live video and audio for Trump's March 2024 trial on charges he tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election he lost.

NBCUniversal Media earlier this month filed a motion requesting U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan allow the trial to be televised by either allowing a pool camera that can be shared between media outlets or by using the court’s existing cameras, which produce a closed-circuit feed available in certain high-profile cases only to reporters in the D.C. federal courthouse. 

"The American public has an extraordinary interest in seeing and hearing this trial of former President Trump. The indictment claims that, as the sitting United States president, Mr. Trump sought to subvert the peaceful transfer of presidential power and the foundational principles of our nation’s democracy,” attorney Theodore Boutrous Jr. wrote in the filing for NBC. 

NBCUniversal Media’s filing followed a similar request from a group of media outlets, including ABC News, The Associated Press, C-SPAN, the New York Times, Politico and the Washington Post. The news organizations requested the court to allow them to record and telecast the proceedings, livestream the trial on Youtube, or publish recordings at the end of each day of the trial. 

Both filings come after revamped rules for the court released in September didn't address several requests for Trump’s federal criminal trials to be publicized. 

Federal court rules prohibit video or audio recordings inside their courtrooms, though it did make a recent change to extend a COVID-19 pandemic-era exemption for live audio access during non-trial civil and bankruptcy proceedings that do not involve witness testimony.

State and local court rules vary across the country, with Fulton County in Georgia allowing live streaming of its proceedings tied to the sweeping election racketeering case against Trump and 18 other co-defendants.

The former president and current GOP 2024 frontrunner has pleaded not guilty in both federal criminal cases brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith. The first trial is scheduled to begin March 4 in D.C. The second trial has a May 20 start date in Fort Pierce, Fla., federal court, with Trump facing charges over his handling of classified government documents he took from the White House to his Florida estate and New Jersey private golf club.