Lawyers for former President Donald Trump told a New York judge Monday that they opposed the media’s request to broadcast Trump’s indictment on Tuesday.
Trump’s lawyers said in their letter to New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan that he is required to reconsider potential security rules.
“As your Honor is well aware, this case presents extraordinary security concerns (including Secret Service concerns) and we submit that any video or photographs of the proceedings will only increase these serious concerns,” they wrote.
Among Trump’s lawyers signing the new letter was Todd Blanche, who, CNN reported, recently joined the former president’s legal team.
Meanwhile, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office also responded to the media request Monday and said it was up to the judge to decide how best to run his courtroom.
However, the District Attorney’s Office wrote that it would be “an arguable exercise of the Court’s discretion to exclude or restrict videography, photography, and radio arraignment in the interest of avoiding potential bias to the accused, to maintain an orderly proceeding, to ensure the safety of participants in the proceedings, or for other reasons within the Court’s authority to manage and control these proceedings.”
But prosecutors also noted that there “does not appear to be a categorical ban on cameras at an arraignment” under existing New York laws and case law.
While the district attorney’s office stopped short of opposing the request, its attorney pointed out to Merchan that a similar audio-video broadcast request was made for the 2021 indictment in the tax fraud case against the Trump Organization and its chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg.
The judge responded to that 2021 request by “permitting a limited number of photographs still to be taken before proceedings begin,” prosecutors noted Monday.
CNN is one of the outlets requesting camera access for Tuesday’s arraignment.
