Dozens of House Democrats called for former President Donald Trump’s Jan. 6 criminal trial to be televised live, arguing the historic nature of the case makes it essential the public hear from witnesses and see evidence in real-time.
Three dozen lawmakers sent the letter Thursday to Judge Roslynn Mauskopf, who oversees the nation’s federal courts. The group includes key members of the House select committee that investigated the origins of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol, including chair Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Reps. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.)
“Given the historic nature of the charges brought forth in these cases, it is hard to imagine a more powerful circumstance for televised proceedings,” the letter reads. “If the public is to fully accept the outcome, it will be vitally important for it to witness, as direct as possible, how the trials are conducted, the strength of the evidence adduced and the credibility of witnesses.”
It’s unclear how likely a televised trial would be.
Federal rules usually prohibit the taking of photographs or video inside a courtroom, hence the sketch of Trump’s not guilty plea Thursday. News organizations had asked for broadcast equipment to be allowed inside the courtroom when Trump was arraigned in a separate case in New York related to hush money payments made to the porn star Stormy Daniels, but a judge rejected those requests in April (a small number of photographers were given a few minutes to capture photos in that instance).
Trump was indicted by a federal grand jury on four federal charges Tuesday. Prosecutors charged the former president with a multi-pronged conspiracy to stay in power after he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Special counsel Jack Smith laid out the outline of the government’s case in a 45-page indictment that claims Trump knew his claims of widespread voter fraud were false, but was determined to remain in power by crafting an “intense national atmosphere of mistrust and anger.”
Lawmakers pointed to that ongoing mistrust of the judicial system in their letter Thursday, calling on the Judicial Conference to make sure information was quickly relayed to the public during Trump’s trial.
“It is imperative the Conference ensures timely access to accurate and reliable information surrounding these cases and all of their proceedings, given the extraordinary national importance to our democratic institutions and the need for transparency,” the letter reads.