The state judge overseeing former President Trump’s Georgia case ruled that cameras will be allowed in the courtroom for the defendants’ arraignments, marking the first time that one of Trump’s criminal proceedings will be televised.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee on Tuesday granted a request from four local television stations to bring in live cameras and other recording devices in his courtroom through Sept. 8.
McAfee’s order does not indicate whether cameras will be allowed during a trial or any other future proceedings in the case.
Perhaps it depends on how this first bit goes.
Willis has given a Friday deadline for the defendants to surrender, although that process is being conducted at the Fulton County Jail, separate from any arraignments. Trump has said he will surrender Thursday.
Then Judge Goodman turns to whether Trump will be released or held in custodial detention pending trial—the latter of which would be a near-certain outcome if this were any other defendant.
But Trump is not any other defendant, and the Justice Department has apparently recommended several extraordinarily lenient conditions of pretrial release. Judge Goodman notes that a bond recommendation from the government was attached to the summons Trump received on the day of his indictment on June 8, 2023. The government’s recommendation, he says, is that Trump should be released on a “personal surety bond with no financial conditions.” In other words: The Justice Department wants Trump released without requiring the payment of bail.
What’s more, Goodman continues, the government recommends only two of the five standard conditions of release that typically apply to defendants awaiting trial: First, that Trump will not commit any new state, federal, or local criminal offenses and, second, that Trump will appear in court as may be required. While most defendants in Trump’s position would be slapped with restrictions that, for example, prohibit travel outside of Florida without permission from the court, the Justice Department has declined to pursue such restrictions.
[...]
Goodman announces that he has “some questions” about the Justice Department’s recommendations. “Is the prosecution asking former President Trump to surrender his passport?” he queries. Harbach, speaking on behalf of the Justice Department, confirms that the government is not asking Trump to surrender his passport or any restrictions related to international travel. Further, Harbach continues, the prosecution is not seeking a restriction requiring Trump to avoid contact with his co-defendant, witnesses, or victims.
[...]
But Goodman isn’t willing to be as lenient as the government is with respect to the special conditions of [Trump's] release. “Despite the parties recommendations,” he says, “I’m going to impose special conditions.” Specifically, Goodman wants Trump to avoid contact with witnesses and victims in the case except through counsel. He asks the government to submit a list of witnesses and victims so that Trump would know whom to avoid by way of abiding by the restriction.
[...]
Goodman further says that Trump should avoid talking to [co-defendant] Nauta about the case. He emphasizes that he customarily would require no contact whatsoever between co-defendants. But here he recognizes that Nauta works for Trump, and it would thus be “impossible” for the usual condition to apply in this case.
[Trump attorney] Blanche says that the “problem” with the conditions enumerated by the judge is that many of the likely witnesses in the case are part of Trump’s protective detail or long-time employees. “For him not to be allowed to have contact with them would in our view be inappropriate,” he stresses.
[...]
Noting that the government is “cognizant” of the issues raised by Blanche, [Government attorney] Harbach suggests that the prosecution come up with a non-exhaustive, narrowed list of witnesses that could “accommodate” Blanche’s concerns. After producing the list, he advises, the government could confer with Trump’s legal team to work through any practical difficulties. Further, he says, the government would suggest that—as with Nauta—the restriction could be limited to communications with these witnesses about the case.
[...]
[Blanche] suggests that it would be “unfair” to people who rely on Trump for their livelihoods if the government were to place them on the “no contact” list. Moreover, he says, these restrictions on communications with witnesses are not necessary because “all of these witnesses” have their own counsel, which Blanche seems to consider sufficient to guard against any improper communications with Trump.
[...]
[Goodman] decides on a simpler course of action: The government should produce of list of witnesses, but the “no contact” restriction will be limited to no communications “about the facts of the case other than through counsel.”
Nauta's arraignment is moved to June 27, but the special conditions for him are the same as for Trump.
I'm curious how many people signed up for that bus ride.
Special treatment. Will Walt Nauta get the same deference?
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.
I guess the buses haven't yet arrived.
UPDATE 03:06 pm:
Former President Trump pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges on 37 counts following a Department of Justice indictment alleging he violated both the Espionage Act and obstructed justice in taking classified records from his presidency and refusing to return them.
[...]
The arraignment was held before Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman, though Judge Aileen Cannon, who oversaw Trump’s earlier challenge to the Mar-a-Lago investigation, is slated to oversee subsequent hearings in the case.
[...]
Trump and his co-defendant Walt Nauta, who is alleged to have aided Trump in concealing the records, were released without bond restrictions or travel restrictions.
[...]
Goodman determined that Trump and Nauta could only communicate about the case through their attorneys, while the Justice Department is tasked with crafting a list of witnesses it wishes to block Trump from communicating with.
Espionage Act prosecutions do not require proving that someone mishandled classified records, but that they willfully retained documents important to the national defense.
If it had been doing its job the last several decades, he would have never gotten to the presidency. And, hey, he's got Secret Service protection, and his lawyers were with him, FFS, Alyssa.
Moments before starting his trip to the Manhattan criminal court, Donald Trump shared a rather obvious message with his followers on the social media platform Truth Social.
“Heading to Lower Manhattan, the Courthouse. Seems so SURREAL – WOW, they are going to ARREST ME,” Trump said. “Can’t believe this is happening in America. MAGA!”
From ABC...
Trump didn't speak to the press as he headed into the courtroom at 2:28 p.m., nearly one hour after he entered the courthouse at 1:23 p.m.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg was brought into the courtroom before him, escorted in under the protection of officers.
Trump looked a bit subdued when he came out of the arrest procedure after being fingerprinted. No thumbs up!
No respect. They didn't even hold the door for him.
Doesn't look that blustery waiting to hear the charges against him, either.
CNN pundit Van Jones quipped that Trump has gone “from reality TV to reality” after being criminally charged in a New York Court room on Tuesday.
“Yeah from reality TV to reality, you know, that’s how it looks,” Jones said minutes after a photo of Trump sitting in the court room during his arraignment said. “This is not Judge Judy. This is real, and you can see it.”
The indictment #71543-23 was released at 3:00pm Eastern and includes 34 counts of felony falsifying business records. A count is included for the intent to commit and conceal another crime of interfering with the election.
Donald Trump has just left the Manhattan criminal court, about two hours after arriving there to be arrested and arraigned over charges linked to a 2016 hush-money scheme.
The former president once again declined to speak to reporters as he left the courthouse, ignoring shouted questions about how he pleaded in the case.
No gag order is in place. I wonder if that will last. Prosecutors had asked for a protection order for discovery so that Trump couldn't publicize it. Judge Merchan reminded Trump he has a right to "conflict-free" attorneys, and asked if he understood. Trump nodded, and the judge put his hand behind his ear and said, "I can't hear you." He also told Trump he has to attend all hearings in person.*
According to multiple reports, the next in-person hearing in Donald Trump’s hush-money case will be held in December [4th], and a trial would not start until January 2024 at the earliest.
The Trump team asked for a Spring 2024 trial date. Not sure why they think it would be better to be closer to the November election.
So, anyway, relax. It's a long time for Trump land to be threatening people and posting hateful shit online. In the meantime, maybe we'll hear from Jack Smith or Fani Willis.
Interestingly, the child out of wedlock story rises from the ashes...
According to the statement of facts from the Manhattan district attorney’s office, the parent company of the National Enquirer, American Media, Inc, at one point bought a story about Donald Trump fathering a child out of wedlock.
“[I]n or about October or November 2015, the AMI CEO learned that a former Trump Tower doorman (the ‘Doorman’) was trying to sell information regarding a child that the Defendant had allegedly fathered out of wedlock,” the statement of facts reads.
“At the AMI CEO’s 4 direction, AMI negotiated and signed an agreement to pay the Doorman $30,000 to acquire exclusive rights to the story. AMI falsely characterized this payment in AMI’s books and records, including in its general ledger. AMI purchased the information from the Doorman without fully investigating his claims, but the AMI CEO directed that the deal take place because of his agreement with the Defendant and Lawyer A.”
I'm sure we're going to keep hearing from MAGA land that Trump is being tried for paying off a porn star, rather than the actual felony charges of falsifying business records.
Also, there was no mugshot, so they made one up for fundraising.
That's enough for now. There will be more. Bragg is going to hold a press conference, and all the pundits and Tweeters and nasty Republicans will be chattering for several days to come.
UPDATE 10:09 pm:
*UPDATE 04/05/2023: That statement by ABC turns out not to be true. According to the transcript of the hearing, the judge informed Trump he had the right to refuse to be present.
The ABC folks may have been talking imprecisely about the last back and forth when the defense suggested that to spare Manhattan the expense and spectacle of arraignment day, they may not need Trump's presence on the day of motions set for December 4. The judge said he would deny that application, "in the interest of transparency and assuring the rules of law evenhandedly...in the same way I expect all other defendants to appear in court." Or I may simply have misunderstood ABC's reporting.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office asked for Donald Trump to surrender on Friday following a grand jury’s vote to indict the former president.
But lawyers for Trump rebuffed the request saying that the Secret Service, which provides security detail for the former president, needed more time to prepare.
[...]
Trump is expected to surrender to the Manhattan D.A.’s office, but Tacopina said that no precise date had been set for it. Ultimately the Secret Service will have to coordinate the conditions of the surrender with court officials and the New York Police Department.
[...]
Though it is not believed that Trump will resist arrest, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — a likely 2024 primary opponent to Trump — said on Twitter Thursday that his state would “not assist in an extradition request given the questionable circumstances at issue” with Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan D.A.
Politico
