Trump Indictment: Media asks NY Judge to unseal audio & visual for public

American broadcasters and news agencies are demanding that Manhattan judge Juan Merchan "immediately unseals" the charges for the indictment of 45th President of the United States Donald Trump. The latter will be arraigned on Tuesday for the hush money payment involving adult film star Stormy Daniels that may have been in breach of the US campaign funding laws during the 2016 election. The funds were paid to Daniels by Trump's then-attorney Michael Cohen who was imprisoned in a similar case probed by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. 45th POTUS who wasn't charged at the time was indicted on March 30. 

Media pushes for 'broadest possible public access' to Trump's arraignment

While Trump will be arraigned at the criminal courthouse on Centre Street, Lower Manhattan, New York, on April 4, the American media has been appealing to unseal the charges brought against the Republican leader who labelled his indictment as "political persecution". In a joint statement, a law firm that is representing leading American news organisations said: "Because of the overwhelming public interest in the contents of the indictment, and because no valid purpose is served by keeping the indictment under seal pending arraignment, we respectfully request that it be unsealed without delay. Indeed, any delay only allows speculation about the content of the indictment to proliferate." Media is also calling on the Court to release the audio and visual access to the arraignment of Trump. 

"The gravity of this proceeding — unprecedented and historic arraignment of a former US President — and, consequently the need for the broadest possible public access, cannot be overstated," the law firm noted on behalf of the media agencies requesting disclosure. 

Trump's arraignment on Tuesday will be presided over by Judge Juan Merchan. The former US President, the first who has held this prestigious office to be criminally charged in America, faces 30 charges related to document fraud. In November 2022, Trump announced a campaign bid for the second presidential election in 2024. After he appears at the Manhattan Court, the former president will deliver a prime-time speech from Mar-a-Lago about what he has been slamming as the “corrupt” charges against him. Trump has also been claiming that he wouldn't get a fair trial in New York, and had lashed out at District Attorney Alvin Bragg and Judge Juan Merchan, both of whom he had said was conspiring to do "dirty work" of ruling Democratic party's leader Joe Biden.