Georgia Judge Rules Cameras Will Be Allowed in Courtroom if Trump Indicted
AP Photo/Seth Wenig.
America might finally be able to watch the spectacle of a former president being criminally indicted live on their television and phone screens. A judge in Fulton County, Georgia — where a grand jury is contemplating that exact indictment — ruled Monday morning to allow cameras in the courtroom if and when such an indictment occurs.
Former President Donald Trump has already been arrested and indicted three times this year, once in Manhattan over hush money payments allegedly paid to Stormy Daniels and twice by the feds over the classified documents seized by the FBI at Mar-a-Lago and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Monday morning, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis launched the presentation of her case to a grand jury regarding Trump and several co-conspirators’ efforts to overturn that election specifically in Georgia, according to multiple media reports. The ex-president has reacted in his typical manner, writing a series of agitated posts on his Truth Social account complaining he made a “perfect phone call,” making baseless accusations against Willis, and claiming he was being unfairly persecuted.
It’s widely expected that the grand jury will decide to issue what would be Trump’s fourth indictment. For his New York indictment, a photographer was permitted in the courtroom to capture a few still photos, but no video was allowed. Federal courts have long resisted allowing any sort of photography or video in their proceedings, although the unique historical nature of a former president’s indictments has increased calls for that policy to change, at least for Trump’s cases. A courtroom sketch artist provided renderings of Trump’s federal indictments.
This Georgia case now seems likely to allow video.
According to a report by The Messenger, “at least part” of the indictment “may be televised.”
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney is in court this week to preside over both Willis’ grand jury proceedings and other routine court matters. Monday morning, he instructed reporters and curious members of the public who were present in his courtroom about what to expect.
“If a grand jury presents an indictment, that’s usually in the afternoon, and you can film and photograph that,” said McBurney.
The grand jury meets only on Mondays and Tuesdays, increasing the anticipation this week. From The Messenger’s report:
If the grand jury votes to indict, be it on Monday or Tuesday, the indictment will be walked over from Willis’ office to the county courthouse by a representative of the clerk’s office, the Fulton County sheriff’s office and the grand jury.
It will be presented to McBurney to sign and be made public. The names of jurors will also be made public at that time.
If an indictment happens on Monday or Tuesday, expect it to be in the afternoon, and the media’s cameras in the courtroom will be allowed to film the moment it is made public, McBurney said.
There will not, however, be an out loud reading of the documents, he said.
“There’s no reading of anything.” There’s also no heads up for the judge of whether that indictment is coming until it’s presented to him.
