C-SPAN's streaming of Second Circuit oral argument Friday (Aug. 23) in a case (Donald J. Trump, et al., v. Committee on Financial Services, et al.) involving the subpoena of President Trump's financial records, and whether House committees can do so, was hailed by Fix the Court (FTC) as the fourth federal appeals court to allow live streaming of oral argument.
FTC had pointed out that C-SPAN sought to cover to provide video coverage of the hearing on the cable channel, but the court compromised and let it stream audio of the hearing on its Web site and YouTube channel.
“If a case makes it to the point where there’s an oral argument before a federal appeals court, that by definition is newsworthy,” said FTC executive director Gabe Roth. “Americans expect to get their news live as it unfolds, not later in the day or week, and there’s no technological or financial reason for the remaining holdouts, including the Supreme Court, not to follow the Second Circuit’s lead and permit live audio.”
Last May, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit decided to start streaming live audio, joining the Ninth and Fourth circuits, which have both streamed arguments live, the Ninth routinely.
