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Twice-impeached former President Donald Trump has been indicted by the Manhattan district attorney in New York.
Trump faces potential criminal charges in a range of cases, from federal investigations of the January 6 insurrection and alleged illegal handling of classified documents to local inquiries into election tampering in Georgia. But New York is the first jurisdiction to indict Trump on felony charges.
While the specific charges are currently sealed, the basic facts are known: Trump is accused of committing and covering up campaign finance fraud by paying $130,000 in hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels in an attempt to hide an extramarital affair before the 2016 election.
This is the first-ever felony indictment of a former United States President. The public interest requires complete transparency from beginning to end.
That means Trump’s trial must be televised.
Unfortunately, New York is currently the only state in the nation totally barring cameras in court. But New York’s highest court has ruled that the state legislature can allow — or even require — cameras in the courtroom. If the legislature acts, Gov. Kathy Hochul can sign this into law before the trial begins.
Trump’s trial will dominate the news, but without cameras in the courtroom, the public will have to rely entirely on the media for coverage, leaving room for right-wing lies and disinformation to flourish.
We’ve already seen what propagandists like Tucker Carlson can do by cherry-picking coverage to fit a pro-Trump narrative. We’ve seen Trump and his allies in Congress flat out lie about the January 6 insurrection.
Now imagine the impact if the public hadn’t already seen what really happened for themselves.
