Dear John,

We thought it might never happen, but it has.

Donald Trump has been arrested and indicted in the state of New York.

Trump is in legal hot water in multiple jurisdictions, at the federal and state levels. Whether for inciting the January 6 insurrection, mishandling classified documents, or attempting to intimidate Georgia election officials, Trump could face many more criminal charges. But New York is the first to indict him for a felony.

While the exact charges in the indictment are still sealed, the basic facts are known: Trump is accused of committing and covering up campaign finance fraud by paying $130,000 in hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels in an attempt to hide an extramarital affair before the 2016 election.

This is the first time in history a former U.S. President has been indicted on felony charges. The American people deserve to see exactly what happens in that courtroom.

But New York is the only state in the nation that bars cameras from all courtrooms. Sign the petition now demanding New York legislators fix this in time to televise Trump’s trial .

The New York Court of Appeals has determined that the state legislature, with Governor Kathy Hochul, can enact legislation to allow or even require cameras in the courtroom. There is time to act before the trial starts.

No doubt we will hear lots of news from the trial, but only cameras can provide the full picture. This is important for Americans no matter what their political persuasion: we all need to know how the trial is conducted and what it reveals, without the distortions -- or even flat-out lies -- of right-wing media disinformation.

As we have learned from the Fox News defamation lawsuit, such deliberately misleading misinformation can have a devastating and dangerous impact.

Take Tucker Carlson’s coverage of January 6th as an example. He’s still claiming to his audience the insurrection was just a bunch of sightseeing tourists and he’s used cherry-picked video from the day to sell his twisted view as facts.

Now imagine if that was the only footage America ever got to see of the actual events of that day? There would be nothing but words to counteract the visual lies -- and frankly, that wouldn’t be good enough. Tucker’s visuals would likely win the information war and even more Americans would believe the false narrative spewed by Donald Trump and his allies.

We must not let that happen with the first trial of a former American President in history.

Democracy dies in darkness. We need to flood this trial with light so everyone gets to see what happens with their own eyes. Sign the petition now.

Let the New York legislature know how important this is for all Americans and help make sure the facts take center stage, not the lies, distortions, and disinformation of the right-wing media.

Thank you for taking action and standing up for the truth.

Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action