NEW YORK — The ex-president’s arraignment will not be televised.
No TV cameras will be permitted inside a Manhattan courtroom for the historic arraignment of Donald Trump on Tuesday, a judge ruled.
Five pool photographers will be let inside the courtroom at 100 Centre St., but video cameras will be confined to the hallways and reporters will be barred from bringing so much as laptops inside, State Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan decided late Monday.
“Never in the history of the United States has a sitting or past President been indicted on criminal charges. Mr. Trump’s arraignment has generated unparalleled public interest and media attention,” he wrote in the ruling.
News organizations including the New York Daily News had asked him to allow full media access to the arraignment, which is believed to stem from Trump’s hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels over an affair he denies. The ex-president plans to plead not guilty Tuesday.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office took no stance on the request for media access.
But Trump’s lawyers asked the judge to deny the news organizations’ motion, arguing it would “create a ‘circus-like atmosphere ... raise security concerns and is inconsistent with President Trump’s presumption of innocence.”
Trump believes “the heightened media presence will “inevitably result in prejudice,” his lawyers added.
Merchan noted “that this indictment involves a matter of monumental significance” on his ruling.
“Unfortunately, although genuine and undoubtedly important, the interests of the News Organizations must be weighed against competing interests,” he wrote.
