OPINION: Americans should be able to watch the trial of their democracy

In a recent commentary published in the ADN, professor Neal Katyal of Georgetown University argued that it is critical to the survival of America’s democracy that the trial of former president Donald J. Trump be televised.

To summarize Katyal’s primary points:

1. We live in a digital age, where people think visually and are accustomed to seeing things with their own eyes.

2. A criminal trial is all about witnesses and credibility, and the demeanor of participants plays a big role in credibility.

3. Television lets Americans see for themselves what is happening in the courtroom and would go a long way toward reassuring them that justice is being done.

4. People would be less vulnerable to distortions and misrepresentations if they were able to see the trial on television.

Professor Katyal has an important message. On a daily basis, Trump exploits the fact that people cannot see what goes on in the courtroom. He freely continues his unabated lies, attacking special counsel Jack Smith as a “thug prosecutor” and “deranged guy.” Federal prosecutors have contended that Trump is seeking to try the case “in the media rather than the courtroom.” Protective orders blocking what Trump can share publicly are pointless, since he has no interest in telling the truth or playing by the rules.

The only real solution is to let the public see directly what goes on in the courtroom through television. Many state courts are, in fact, open to the public. Transparency — giving a fair hearing for the prosecution and the defense — is the guiding principle of judicial procedure. So why shouldn’t the people with the most at stake, the citizens of America, have the opportunity to watch the trial on television?

Why is this measure so important to America? In answering this question, it is useful to go back to the words of President Abraham Lincoln. At the battleground of Gettysburg in the midst of the Civil War that saved and united our country, President Abraham Lincoln asked, “that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” Lincoln was speaking in 1863, but his words were meant for future generations — including ours.

Today our democratic form of government is threatened again, but by a different kind of war — a war on truth. This war has crept up on us. As a nation, Americans have become more tolerant of being lied to by public officials. We have gone from the 20th century, when former President Richard M. Nixon resigned to avoid impeachment for the Watergate cover-up and former President Bill Clinton completed his term of office in disgrace after being impeached for lying under oath, to today, when former President Trump lies with abandon.

In 2017 when he was sworn in, President Trump wasted no time in establishing this practice. He claimed that his inauguration was attended by a million or a million and a half people — vastly overstating reality. Last year, when former president Trump visited Alaska and spoke at the Alaska Airlines Center, he spent most of his lengthy remarks repeating fully discredited claims about winning the 2020 election. It was as though saying something often enough and blatantly enough would make it true.

Schoolchildren would say, “Liar, liar, pants on fire!” But today’s war on truth needs to be taken seriously. Our country’s future as a democracy “of the people, by the people, for the people” is at stake. All of us, Democrats and Republicans, should take a clear-eyed look at the truth of the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol. And to do so it would be immensely helpful if they were able to watch the trial of former President Trump on television.

Janet McCabe and her husband David came to Alaska in 1964. She is a graduate of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and a member of Alaska Common Ground and Commonwealth North.

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