• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, April 4, 2023

Live wall-to-wall coverage of the twice-impeached-former-president’s motorcade ride back to New York City Monday reminded some observers of another infamous SUV run, but the real analogy to O.J. Simpson should be live TV coverage inside the courtroom.

“The public should have the right to see this most consequential of legal proceedings,” Sally Buzbee, executive editor of The Washington Post, said in a statement released this morning urging Judge Juan Merchan to allow TV and photographic cameras at today’s hearing, as well as upcoming hearings to enable journalists to cover news made at the hearing/s in “real-time.”

“No purpose is served by restricting access in this way,” she said, echoing a sentiment expressed by other news organizations.

Buzbee is among the editors representing a coalition of news organizations making similar appeals in a petition to Judge Merchan, and I don’t need to remind you of her paper’s motto – “Democracy Dies in Darkness” – but the judge nonetheless ruled late Monday that he would allow only five news photographers to take still pictures during his appearance in court, although TV cameras would also be allowed in the hallways of the courthouse.

“The ruling effectively means that the public won’t learn the details of Trump’s arraignment — an unprecedented event of global significance — until it’s over,” wrote The Washington Post’s Paul Farhi, noting Judge Merchan’s statement that his decision weighed the competing interests of the news media vs. the safety of the defendant and the “dignity and decorum of the court.”

Safety.

Defendant.

Dignity.

Decorum.

A man from Queens.

Democracy.

Darkness.