Fulton County judge authorizes Trump trial to be televised and live streamed

The trial of former President Trump in Fulton County, Ga., for alleged election interference will be televised and live streamed. The judge in the case, Scott McAfee, decided so on Thursday.

Live on YouTube

McAfee said all hearings and trials of Trump and his 18 aides will be streamed on the Fulton County Courthouse's YouTube channel. The channel has just 11 videos to date, mostly promotional. There is not any other full trial or legal proceeding available in its video gallery. The court staff will be in charge of the broadcast.

In addition to the live stream via the county court's YouTube channel, McAfee will also allow a number of accredited media outlets with photography equipment to be present, along with cameras for television broadcasting.

Common court protocol?

In statements reported by ABC, McAfee said that it is standard procedure in his court. "We've been live streaming all of our major proceedings on a Fulton County provided YouTube channel, and our plan was to do that with this case as well."

This will be the only case against Trump, of the four that are open, in which cameras will be allowed to capture the entirety of the proceedings. The state of Georgia allows the presence of cameras in the courtroom as long as they do not interrupt the process or involve a major alteration. However, it is not common to see a criminal trial broadcast in its entirety.

As CBS recalls, in the New York trial in which prosecutor Alvin Bragg charged Trump with financial crimes, the media obtained exceptional permission to capture some images of the beginning of the trial. They did not record any more of the proceedings.

Should the trial change hands, it may not be aired. Trump's defense petitioned the Fulton County Superior Court to have the case transferred to federal court. If so, Judge McAfee's order to broadcast the trial would no longer be valid.