Part of Donald Trump’s indictment in Georgia was televised after a judge decided in the media’s favour.
The Fulton County superior court judge presiding over the grand jury in the case, Robert McBurney, told reporters that “if a grand jury presents an indictment, that’s usually in the afternoon, and you can film and photograph that,” The Messenger reported.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis presented her case to the jury on Monday, which voted to indict Mr Trump for his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state.
There are 13 felony charges against Trump, including RICO, conspiracy to commit forgery, filing false documents, Solicitation of Violation of Oath by Public Officer and more.
In addition, 18 Trump associates have also been indicted, including former White House chief of staff mark Meadows and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani.
When Mr Trump was indicted on the federal level, cameras weren’t allowed in court.
Ms Willis has been investigating Mr Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state and was expected to seek an indictment from a grand jury this week. It would be Mr Trump’s fourth indictment within the span of five months.
There was plenty of confusion regarding possible charges against Mr Trump in the Georgia election interference case.
Reuters reported on Monday that a document outlining the charges against Mr Trump had been posted and then removed from the Fulton County website.
Mr Trump then used the document to ask for donations from his supporters, arguing that he was being denied due process.
The Office of the Fulton County Clerk of Superior and Magistrate Courts then issued a statement on Monday afternoon saying that a “fictitious” document had been shared online.
“While there have been no documents filed today regarding such, all members of the media should be reminded that documents that do not bear an official case number, filing date, and the name of The Clerk of Courts, in concert, are not considered official filings and should not be treated as such,” the court said.
They added that “Media members can expect to be notified of any/all filings in real-time and will be provided access to filings via equitable communication”.
