NEW YORK (AP) — It’s a moment in history — the first U.S. president facing criminal charges in an American courtroom. Yet only a handful of observers are able to see or even hear what is going on.

Instead, most of the nation is getting news of former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial secondhand. Starting with preliminary motions and jury selection Monday, reporters in a Manhattan courtroom must convey what is being said to the outside world after the fact.

What to know about Trump’s hush money trial:

• Follow our live updates.
• Trump will be first ex-president on criminal trial. Here’s what to know about the hush money case.
• A jury of his peers: A look at how jury selection will work in Donald Trump’s first criminal trial.
• Donald Trump is facing four criminal indictments, and a civil lawsuit. You cantrack all of the cases here.

That’s all because New York state law regarding media coverage of court proceedings is one of the most restrictive in the country. Last week’s death of O.J. Simpson, whose murder trial beamed live from a California courtroom captivated a nation three decades ago, was a telling reminder of how New York is behind the times — or, at least, a holdout.

WHY WON’T NEW YORK LET ME SEE IT?

Regulations limiting media coverage in courtrooms date back nearly a century, when the spectacle of bright flashbulbs and camera operators standing on witness tables during the 1935 trial of the man accused of kidnapping and killing Charles Lindbergh’s baby son horrified the legal community, according to a 2022 report by the New York-based Fund for Modern Courts.

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AP AUDIO: Trump trial: Why can’t