The effort faces an uphill battle—electronic media coverage of criminal cases has been prohibited in federal courts for the better part of the last century. So far, video access hasn’t been allowed during any of Trump’s pretrial hearings in the case, though an overflow courtroom with a video feed has been set up for reporters.
“No compelling or substantial government interest supports restricting public access to a minuscule number of reporters and a handful of members of the public who can physically access the courtroom in Washington, D.C. to see and hear what happens,” the NBCU legal team wrote.
NBCU’s latest filing isn’t the only attempt to bring cameras into the courtroom, however. Earlier this month, a media coalition including C-SPAN, CBS News, ABC News, and CNN filed a joint application to televise the proceedings. That bid included a request to the Judicial Conference, which drafts the rules and regulations binding federal courts.