Jane Rosenberg explains what it was really like to be at the Trump trial.
Have you ever wondered what it’d be like to sit in on a major criminal trial, the kind that makes the headlines nearly every day? What about witnessing not just one historic trial, but just about every big court case you can think of, for the past four decades? If that appeals to you, Jane Rosenberg just might have your dream job. The courtroom sketch artist has drawn scenes from some of the most important legal proceedings of our time — including those involving John Gotti, Ghislaine Maxwell, and most recently, Donald Trump.
Next month, her fascinating story will be adapted to a new medium: a memoir, Drawn Testimony: My Four Decades as a Courtroom Sketch Artist, out August 13. Ahead of the release of her book, we sat down with the artist to get the scoop on what it was like in the courtroom when Trump’s historic verdicts were handed down, the controversy over her Tom Brady sketch, and much more.
Katie Couric Media: How did you become a courtroom sketch artist?
Jane Rosenberg: I’ve been an artist since childhood, and I went to college and majored in art. After I graduated, I became a portrait artist for tourists in Cape Cod and Provincetown in summers, and in winters, I studied at the Art Students League. There, I went to a lecture of another courtroom artist, Marilyn Church. And I thought, Oh, I would just love to do that. I’m sick of doing just heads on a paper. I’d love to do a composition of everything that’s going on.
I had friends who were lawyers, and they took me to night court — I did my sketch and went home and called [what was then] the startup company, CNN. They already had an artist so I called NBC and they said, “Well, come on in, let’s see what you’ve got.” And then I kept getting calls from that point on, and that’s how it began.
What’s your approach when you’re drawing? What’s going through your mind?
I’m sort of a journalist in a way: I’m trying to make a picture that shows what’s going on in the courtroom. I personally like to capture emotion, if I can see it. If somebody reacts in any way, I would go after that. And if they don’t react, I’m going to go after that too: I’m going to show them sitting there like a lump. My job is to show what’s going on in court.
I wanted to ask you about the Trump trial: Did you see him fall asleep? And if so, what was that like?
The majority of the time Trump sat in that courtroom, his eyes were closed, but I can’t confirm that he was asleep. Day number two or three, I was drawing in the overflow room, and I was sure he was sleeping because he looked like he was nodding off — but I really can’t be sure.
Sometimes, throughout the trial, he would pop his eyes open if he felt like seeing something, but then they would go back and be shut. Was he meditating? Was he praying? Was he just sensitive to light and shutting his eyes? I don’t have a good answer.
Having sat in on so many trials, were there parts of the Trump trial that were unusual, or did anything else stick out to you?
First and foremost was the security surrounding this trial. I’ve never covered anything with that much security. There were so many layers I had to go through before I got in my seat. Plus these two court officers were stationed right smack in the middle aisle, which blocked the view of Trump a lot, so that made it difficult.
I know Trump said hi to you a couple of times. Is that normal in your experience? Do defendants ever try to make a certain face to try to get you to catch their good side?
[John] Gotti told me to shave off his double chin a little. Donald Trump Jr. did ask me to make him look sexy in one of my sketches. But Trump saw me sitting in the jury box in New York, in Florida, and in Washington, D.C. He knew who I was. At the civil fraud trial, I was sitting right up against the railing, very close to where he’d be sitting. He had to walk right by me. So if I was looking at him, he would say hello to me sometimes — he didn’t do it every single day. It was a little unnerving, but I’d nod back. That is slightly unusual, I’d say. But he keeps trying to be charming and charismatic when he wants to be. He’ll flip on a dime.
And during the Ghislaine Maxwell trial, didn’t she start drawing you?
She also had a connection with me — she really was talking to me. It was very bizarre. She was sketching me, sketching her. So I drew a sketch of the sketch she’s drawing of me. Then, during the trial, she said things to me. She turned around and said, “Nice day, isn’t it?” And we had a little thing where she waved to me sometimes. She turned around and posed sometimes with her arm over the chair. It was unusual.
You’ve covered so many historic trials in your career — is there one that’s particularly memorable?
I remember with Tom Brady in 2015, that was the first time something [I drew] went viral. I didn’t even know what a meme was [before that]. So that was the beginning.
During the Trump trial, I got a lot of emails also. The majority were very positive and thankful to me for doing my job, though I did have a few very bizarre ones from probably Trump’s base, saying that I worked for commie rags, and some of them were on the fringe of being threatening. [But] a lot of people were appreciative, and that’s really a good feeling. I’m happy to serve the public, that’s the bottom line for me.
That’s surprising, because you’re not making any sort of judgment — you’re just drawing.
I’m not making a judgment, but people believe that I am — on both sides. Someone said I made Michael Cohen look too old, or I made Trump look bad. Everybody, depending on what side they believed, thought I didn’t make this person or that person look good enough. But I’m trying to show everybody the way I see them.
What led you to finally work on your memoir?
I was approached by an agent who suggested I have a great story to tell. And I thought, OK, maybe it’s time. It was early in COVID, and I had plenty of time. But I had no idea it was gonna take me this long — it really took a lot of effort.
Is there something in particular that you hope people take away from the book?
People are interested in courtroom art, I think I’ve known that all along. Because people always sit behind me, and they’ll often say, “Oh, you’re the most interesting part of this trial.” They just love watching what I’m doing. And a lot of people who aren’t in the courtroom wonder how this job works. Who do I work for? What do I bring? And I hope I answered a lot of questions that the public might have in this book.
