Donald Trump says he wants his election fraud trial televised; it probably won't happen

WASHINGTON - Donald Trump and his lawyers say they support a live television broadcast of his federal election fraud trial next year, a long-shot request for an unprecedented event.

“The prosecution wishes to continue this travesty in darkness," said a legal petition publicized Saturday by his presidential campaign. "President Trump calls for sunlight.”

Television cameras are forbidden in federal courtrooms.

A group of media companies have asked U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to make an exception for the trial in which Trump is accused of a conspiracy to steal the 2020 election from President Joe Biden.

Trump's legal team filed a brief Friday in support of the media's motion.

The trial is scheduled to begin in March.

Legal analyst Joyce Vance, a former federal prosecutor and law professor at the University of Alabama, said she doubted Trump really wants the trial televised.

Instead, Trump is probably more interested in attacking Special Counsel Jack Smith and other prosecutors, Vance said.

"It’s meant as a strategic measure to paint himself as martyr and the government as a Soviet-style prosecution," Vance wrote on Substack. "He might even change course if it appeared the trial was going to be televised."

The Washington, D.C. case is one of four criminal trials Trump could face during the 2024 election year.

A grand jury in Georgia also indicted Trump in connection with efforts to overturn his election loss in that state.

The former president also faces state charges in New York over hush money payments. The fourth case involves mishandling classified information in Florida.