The judge won’t allow cameras to broadcast Trump’s full court appearance

Expected Preliminary Expectation for Donald Trump’s New York Arrival in Light of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Indictment

Donald Trump, the first ex-president in history to face criminal charges, is headed to New York this week for an expected arraignment on Tuesday after being indicted last week by a Manhattan grand jury.

The expected voluntary surrender of a former president and 2024 White House candidate will be a unique affair in more ways than one – both for the Manhattan district attorney’s office and the New York courthouse where he’ll be arraigned and for a nation watching to see how it’ll shake up the GOP presidential primary.

Despite the initial shock of the indictment, Trump has remained focused and calm in the days leading up to his court appearance.

The Manhattan District Attorney investigated whether Trump had extramarital affairs with women that he denied.

Trump is expected to leave Florida around noon ET on Monday, landing at New York’s LaGuardia airport around 3 p.m. ET, according to a source familiar with his plans. The source said that the former president will stay in New York until Monday night, and then he will go back to Florida after Tuesday’s hearing.

But even before Trump’s appearance, his presence will be felt in the Manhattan courthouse Tuesday, as all trials and most other court activity is being halted before he is slated to arrive.

Trump will be booked by the investigators, which includes taking his fingerprints. A mug shot should be taken. But sources familiar with the preparations were uncertain as to whether there would be a mugshot – because Trump’s appearance is widely known and authorities were concerned about the improper leaking of the photo, which would be a violation of state law.

This is not the same. This has never happened before. I have never had a Secret Service involved in my case, at 100 Centre Street, said the lawyer for Donald Trump. “All the Tuesday stuff is still very much up in the air, other than the fact that we will very loudly and proudly say not guilty.”

Ordinarily, a defendant who is released would walk out the front doors, but Secret Service will want to limit the time and space where Trump is in public. So instead, once the court hearing is over, Trump is expected to walk again through the public hallway and into the back corridors to the district attorney’s office, back to where his motorcade will be waiting.

News outlets will not be allowed to broadcast former President Donald Trump’s arraignment on Tuesday in a Manhattan state court, a judge said Monday night.

The need for public access to this case cannot be overstated, argued the media outlets that tried to get cameras into the courtroom.

Merchan, an acting New York Supreme Court justice, has sentenced Trump’s close confidant Allen Weisselberg to prison, presided over the Trump Organization tax fraud trial and overseen former adviser Steve Bannon’s criminal fraud case.

Merchan does not stand for disruptions or delays, attorneys who have appeared before him told CNN, and he’s known to maintain control of his courtroom even when his cases draw considerable attention.

Timothy Parlatore, an attorney for Donald Trump, said during an interview with CNN that it was not easy on him when he tried a case against him but that he will be fair.

I have tried cases in front of him before. He may be a tough guy. I don’t think it’s necessarily going to be something that’s going to change his ability to evaluate the facts and the law in this case,” Parlatore said.

The former president will plead not guilty. His team “will look at every potential issue that we will be able to challenge, and we will challenge,” Tacopina said.

The Trump team’s court strategy could center around challenging the case because it may rely on business record entries that prosecutors tie to hush money payments to Daniels seven years ago, beyond the statute of limitations for a criminal case. Tacopina suggested in TV interviews Sunday the statute of limitations may have passed, and said the Trump businesses didn’t make false entries.

The lawyers for Donald Trump are not currently considering a request to move the case to a different city. He told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos there had been no discussion of that. It is way too early to start thinking about venue changes until we see the indictment and understand the legal issues.

Trump’s political advisers over the weekend were actively discussing how to best campaign off the indictment they have portrayed as a political hoax and witch hunt, according to sources close to Trump.

The former president was presented with polls showing him a growing lead over the governor, who is currently considered the biggest opponent to the president in 25 years. And his team says it has raised more than $5 million dollars since he was indicted Thursday.

Many of Trump’s allies, critics and likely opponents in the 2024 Republican presidential primary race have similarly attacked Bragg before and after the indictment.

Asa Hutchinson doubled down on his call for Donald Trump to pull out of the race now that he is facing criminal charges.

The office is more important than the person in it. So for the sake of the office of the presidency, I do think that’s too much of a sideshow and distraction,” Hutchinson said in an interview on ABC News. He needs to concentrate on the things that are important.

CNN Observed a Presidential Indictment on a Crime-In-Relevance Scale: Implications for the Journalism and the Media

CNN was one of the media organizations that asked the New York Supreme Court Judge for permission to broadcast the historic proceedings.

“That this indictment involves a matter of monumental significance cannot possibly be disputed. The United States has never had a President indicted on criminal charges. Mr. Trump is generating unparalleled public interest and media attention. “The populace rightly hungers for the most accurate and current information available. To suggest otherwise would be disingenuous.”

Merchan said that while the media’s request was understandable, the news organizations’ interests in providing the broadest possible access to the proceedings must be weighed against “competing interests.”

Earlier on Monday, Trump’s lawyers urged the judge to reject the media’s request for cameras in the courtroom. The Manhattan district attorney’s office told the judge it didn’t have a position.