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Former President Donald Trump attends a campaign rally in Houston on November 2, 2023.
CNN
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Former President Donald Trump’s legal team has formally told a federal court it wants to televise his election tampering trial in Washington, D.C.
Court rules do not allow federal proceedings to be broadcast, and the judiciary opposes allowing cameras. Several media outlets have asked the court to consider allowing cameras at the historic hearing in March.
“President Trump fully agrees, and in fact requests, that these proceedings be televised in their entirety,” his lawyers said in a filing Friday night.
The filing included many of Trump’s criticisms that his case was illegal and that he was being deprived of his rights, and argued in court that a televised trial would allow him to deal with the unfairness of the justice system as the public sees it.
Speaking at a campaign event in New Hampshire on Saturday, Trump said he wanted “everyone in the world” to see the investigation.
“I want everyone to see all the horrible things that happened, all the horrible allegations … and let the public decide because I want cameras in every inch of that courtroom,” he said.
In a lengthy effort, a group of media organizations, including CNN, asked the federal judge overseeing the case, Tanya Sudkan, in October. Permission to broadcast the trial must be obtained Given its historical character. In a separate petition to the judge, NBC Universal Media argued that a longstanding rule against cameras in federal criminal investigations dating back to the 1940s is outdated and would violate the First Amendment if strictly enforced in Trump’s case.
The media argued that there was a significant public interest in allowing the trial to be broadcast, arguing that video coverage would help undermine conspiracy theories surrounding the case.
Special Prosecutor Jack Smith, who prosecuted the case, Resists television Federal election tampering investigation.
In a petition filed last week by lawyers, federal courts are expressly prohibited from allowing courtroom proceedings to be televised or photographed, and while the public has been allowed to access some proceedings via telecommunications during the Covid-19 pandemic, the exemption ended in September. For criminal investigations.
The trial against the former president will be held on March 4.
Trump faces four charges in the case, including conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruction of official action. Former President Not guilty.
This story has been updated with additional updates.
CNN’s Devan Cole, Holmes Lybrand, Ali Main and Alaina Treen contributed to this report.