|
In
the late Friday filing, Trump argued that prosecutors want the
trial held "in darkness" as part of what he claims is a
politically motivated effort by President Joe Biden's
administration to undermine his bid for re-election next year.
Trump is leading the field of Republican candidates seeking the
party's 2024 presidential nomination. Biden is expected to win
the Democratic Party's nomination to a second term.
Trump is facing four criminal proceedings, including the federal
court trial set for March in which he faces charges of
attempting to defraud the federal government and obstructing
Congress by knowingly spreading false claims of election fraud.
His unfounded claims that the 2020 vote was rigged spurred
thousands of his supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6,
2021, in a failed bid to block congressional certification of
his defeat by Biden.
In his latest filing by his lawyers, John Lauro and Todd
Blanche, Trump endorsed requests by media organizations that
U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan allow live television
coverage of the trial.
"Every person in America, and beyond, should have the
opportunity to study this case firsthand and watch as, if there
is a trial, President Trump exonerates himself of these baseless
and politically motivated charges," said the filing.
It accused Special Prosecutor Jack Smith's team of violating
Trump's constitutional rights and attacked Chutkan for allowing
"these attacks," thereby "placing the interests of his political
opposition" above his legal protections.
"These proceedings should be fully televised so that American
public can see first hand that this case...is nothing more than
a dreamt-up constitutional charade," it said.
Smith earlier this month opposed the media requests, citing a
decades-old federal court rule barring broadcasts of criminal
proceedings.
Television coverage also potentially could intiminate witnesses
and jurors, Smith said in a Nov. 3 filing.
(Reporting by Jonathan Landay; Editing by Alistair Bell)
[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2022 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
