The twice impeached, one-term ex-President Donald Trump has been indicted by the Manhattan District Attorney in New York.

Trump faces many potential criminal charges in cases ranging from the federal level Special Counsel investigations into incitement of the January 6th insurrection and illegal handling of presidential records and classified documents to the state level local county inquiry into election tampering and intimidation in Georgia, but New York is the first jurisdiction to indict Trump on felony charges.

While the specific charges are currently sealed, the basic facts are known: Trump is accused of committing and covering-up campaign finance fraud by paying $130,000 in hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels in an attempt to hide an extramarital affair before the 2016 election.

The first-ever felony indictment of a former United States President is historic and the public interest requires complete transparency from beginning to end.

The public has a right to know and that means Trump’s trial must be televised.

Unfortunately, New York is currently the only state in the nation totally barring cameras in court.^[1] Fortunately, NY’s highest court has ruled that the state legislature can allow -- or even require -- cameras in the courtroom and Governor Hochul can sign it into law before the trial begins.

Trump’s trial will dominate the news, but without cameras in the courtroom, the public will have to rely entirely on the media for coverage -- and that leaves room for right-wing lies and disinformation to flourish without allowing the public to see the truth with their own eyes.

Democracy dies in darkness. We’ve already seen what misinformation propagandists like Tucker Carlson can do by cherry picking coverage to fit a pro-Trump narrative. We’ve seen Donald Trump and his allies in Congress flat out lie about the January 6th insurrection.

Now imagine the impact if the public hadn’t already seen what really happened for themselves.

The American public deserves the truth and the ability to see Trump’s trial with their own eyes. Sign the petition to New York lawmakers by adding your name now.

^{[1] New York high court says camera ban constitutional}