The Constitution requires that trials be held in public, and that should include the arraignment and trial of former President Donald Trump, Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz said Tuesday on Newsmax.
"I think the main thought I have is why aren't we seeing this arraignment on television?" Dershowitz said on Newsmax's "National Report." "Why aren't we seeing the entire trial of Donald Trump on television? What does the justice system have to hide? Why can't we have a televising of the trial of Donald Trump, one of the most important trials in American history?"
No cameras will be permitted at Trump's arraignment at a federal court in Miami on Tuesday for alleged violations of the federal Espionage Act and other charges related to the classified documents kept at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
Federal Magistrate Jonathan Goodman on Monday night rejected an argument from a press coalition including The New York Times, NBC News, The Associated Press, that said Trump's court hearing is a "special proceeding" and that cameras should be allowed.
Dershowitz noted that proceedings from the legislative and executive branches are televised, and he wants to know "what's so special about the judiciary" that it can avoid similar levels of transparency.
"The Constitution requires a public trial," he said. "At the time of the Constitution, of course, there was no television. A public trial means as public as technology allows, and I think the Constitution requires that the trial of Donald Trump be televised. I want to know what's going on inside the courtroom rather than just outside the courtroom."
Dershowitz acknowledged that Trump's arraignment procedure will be "boring and dull," but said the trial will be "very interesting" and the public should be allowed to see it.
Dershowitz predicted that the trial will be about a year from now, or during the presidential election conventions.
"The judge could conceivably put it off until after the election, but it will really be up to the judge," said Dershowitz. "And, of course, we now see some Democrats trying to recuse the judge.
"They're trying to weaponize the system because they don't like this randomly selected judge because she once ruled in favor of Donald Trump, and it was reversed."
There is "no good time" for a trial during an election season, Dershowitz said.
"That's why you shouldn't have a trial for a person running for president unless it's the most compelling case imaginable," he said. "In this case, I think we're short of that standard."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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