U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon rejected a request by the media on Tuesday to bring electronic devices inside the courtroom amid calls for heightened transparency over former President Donald Trump‘s legal cases.
Attorneys for Trump and co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira are slated to appear Thursday morning in Florida federal court to enter pleas to new charges added on July 27 to an indictment in the classified documents case. Trump has signaled he would skip his hearing at the Alto Lee Adams Sr. United States Courthouse.
Media organizations had asked permission in an Aug. 7 filing to use their electronic devices to “take notes and to transmit text during the hearing, permitting these organizations to report on the proceedings in real time.”
Cannon responded on Wednesday in a paperless order, denying the request.
Her decision will undoubtedly make it more difficult for reporters to cover the details from inside the courtroom in real time and coincides with more voices from either end of the political spectrum calling for transparency over the former president’s legal proceedings.
Last week, House Democrats began calls to allow cameras in the courtroom for Trump’s alleged 2020 election interference case in Washington, D.C. An attorney for the former president, John Lauro, said Sunday that he welcomes cameras in the courtroom, fueling more bipartisanship around the request.
Nauta is expected to attend a hearing Thursday to be arraigned on two new obstruction counts added in a superseding indictment. Like Trump, he could make a filing to waive his appearance.
Oliveira is expected to make an appearance in Fort Pierce on Thursday at 10 a.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Shaniek Mills Maynard to enter a plea on four counts revealed in the superseding indictment, including conspiracy to obstruct justice, concealing an object, and making a false statement.
Trump has already pleaded “not guilty” to three new charges brought on July 27, including two counts of obstruction and one count of unlawful retention of national defense information.