More than three dozen congressional Democrats have asked the federal courts to allow live video of proceedings in the criminal case against Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., arguing that extra steps are needed because of the high-stakes nature of the prosecution, reports Roll Call. The group, which includes members of the former House panel that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, asked the U.S. Judicial Conference to “explicitly authorize” the broadcast of proceedings on charges connected to Trump’s efforts to overturn his loss in the 2020 election. The letter, led by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), urges that policymaking body of the federal courts to take those steps to “ensure the facts of this case are brought forward, unfiltered, to the public.” “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 says.
Among other signers are Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), who chaired the select committee; and panel members Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Zoe Lofgren (D-CA). A grand jury indictment in Washington is the third and possibly most politically explosive criminal case against the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. It alleges that Trump and six co-conspirators took actions on the day of the Capitol attack to try to remain in power despite losing the 2020 election. The indictment accuses Trump of pursuing his false claims of election fraud after being told by Justice Department officials, state officials, Vice President Mike Pence and numerous courts that there was no evidence of fraud. Trump pleaded not guilty at an arraignment session on Thursday.
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