(LibertyInsider.org) – A federal judicial rule (Fed. R. Crim. P. 53) bars the broadcast of federal judicial proceedings. Nevertheless, on Saturday, November 11, Donald Trump’s lawyers filed a pleading asking District Judge Tanya Chutkan to grant a media coalition’s request for permission to record and televise his upcoming election interference trial. Prosecutors recently objected to the former president’s request.
On Sunday, Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team filed a two-page motion asking Chutkan to grant them leave to file a reply opposing “defendant” Trump’s response to the media group’s application to broadcast his criminal trial. The pleading began by referencing the government’s November 3 response to the news organizations’ brief.
Prosecutors explained that they sought Trump’s stance on the media company’s application. The former president’s lawyers asked the government to “represent to the Court that he took no position” on the pleading.
The government argued that he suddenly reversed that position a week later, offering no explanation for the about-face. Instead, prosecutors argued that Trump’s lawyers made “incendiary” and “false” claims about the administration of trial procedures surrounding his case.
Prosecutors asked the court to allow them to file a reply to Trump’s response. Chutkan agreed, and the government filed its four-page document on Monday.
The pleading argued that Trump’s response failed to cite a “single” case or rule to support their position “because there are none.” They also accused the former president of attempting to “turn his trial into a media event” and try his case in the court of public opinion.
Continuing, Smith’s team accused Trump of attempting to “create a carnival atmosphere” by televising his trials as part of an ongoing effort to distract people from the charges filed against him, “like many fraud defendants [attempt] to do.” Likewise, the government predicted that if Trump prevailed, he and his lawyers would fashion their “in-court statements to wage a public relations campaign.”
The government concluded its reply by warning the court of the “attendant risks of witness intimidation” were she to agree to allow the televised broadcast of Trump’s trial.
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