Dozens of House Democrats are pushing the federal courts to televise former President Donald Trump’s trial in Washington on charges that he led a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election results, saying the American public must hear the evidence directly and understand the outcome.
The lawmakers told Judge Roslynn R. Mauskopf — the secretary of the Judicial Conference in the federal court system’s administrative office — that the unprecedented nature of the case demands “accurate and reliable” information.
“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 lawmakers wrote in a Thursday letter. “If the public is to fully accept the outcome, it will be vitally important for it to witness, as directly as possible, how the trials are conducted, the strength of the evidence adduced and the credibility of witnesses.”
The letter is signed by Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat who chaired the former House Select Committee on the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Other Democratic panel members, including Reps. Adam Schiff and Zoe Lofgren, both of California, and Jamie Raskin of Maryland, signed the letter.
Mr. Trump was charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstructing an official proceeding, and conspiracy against the rights of citizens over his actions to overturn the official results in key states after his 2020 election loss.
Mr. Trump pleaded not guilty Thursday at E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse just blocks from the Capitol where a pro-Trump mob stormed the building on Jan. 6, 2021, when Congress was trying to certify electoral votes.
Federal court proceedings are not televised, so only officials, attorneys and reporters in the building got to watch the arraignment.
Rep. Gerry Connolly, a Virginia Democrat who signed the letter, tweeted that cameras would be in the public’s interest.
“The American people have a right to know what is said in cases that concern us all,” wrote Mr. Connolly, who also sponsored legislation to broadcast oral arguments at the Supreme Court. “As Donald Trump faces trial, I signed onto a letter calling on the court to make the proceedings available for all to watch — it’s in everyone’s best interest to know the truth.”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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