Trump’s Georgia election interference trial will be televised and livestreamed, judge says
By Blayne Alexander and Rebecca Shabad
Unlike the federal and New York cases, in Georgia, state law allows cameras into judicial proceedings with a judge’s approval.
Unlike former President Donald Trump’s forthcoming trials in Florida, New York and Washington, D.C., the public will have the opportunity to watch court proceedings in the Georgia election interference case on television and online, a judge said Thursday.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee said at a hearing on allowing cameras in the courtroom that the proceedings in the case will also be live-streamed on the court’s YouTube channel.
Cameras are permitted in Georgia court proceedings with a judge’s approval.
The Sept. 6 arraignment for defendants in the Georgia case, for example, will be televised. Trump and several other defendants have decided to waive their appearances for arraignment, however, and have entered pleas of not guilty.
Trump pleaded not guilty Thursday in the Georgia criminal case to charges of racketeering and conspiracy in connection with the effort to overturn the 2020 election. The former president also told the court that he would not appear in person for the scheduled arraignment next week.
A trial date hasn’t been scheduled yet. Trump and his legal team have pushed back against the dates proposed by District Attorney Fani Willis. She originally proposed March 4, but the trial in the federal election interference case has since been set to start that day in Washington, D.C.
More recently, Willis called for the trial to begin in late-October, which Trump and his attorneys have rejected. Only Kenneth Chesebro, one of the 18 co-defendants, has a trial set for Oct. 23.
On Thursday, Trump’s attorneys filed a motion to sever his case from those of his co-defendants who have demanded a speedy trial.
The trial date for the hush money case against Trump in New York has been set for March 25, though that could be moved because of the federal case in D.C., and a trial date for the classified documents case against Trump in Florida has been set for May 20.
None of those court proceedings is expected to be televised.
