The legal team of former President Donald Trump has filed for security clearance, according to CNN's Chan Wu.
This is the latest development in the indictment that President Joe Biden's Department of Justice (DOJ) has brought against Trump in relation to Trump's alleged mishandling of classified documents.
Trump stands accused of 37 crimes, including willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record, corruptly concealing a document or record, concealing a document in a federal investigation, a scheme to conceal, and false statements.
The arraignment has already been held, and Trump has pleaded not guilty. Trump insists that he has not committed any crimes and that Biden, through special counsel Jack Smith, has brought the case against Trump in order to stop Trump's 2024 presidential campaign.
The case between Trump and the DOJ is being overseen by U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon. There have already been a couple of developments in the case since the arraignment.
For one, Smith has filed a motion looking to restrict what Trump and Trump's legal team could do with the documents that they receive during the discovery process. Among other things, Smith is trying to ensure that neither Trump nor Trump's legal team can disclose any of the documents to the public.
It remains to be seen how the court will rule on this motion. Reports indicate that Trump has not objected to it.
In addition to this, Cannon has given all involved in the case an order.
Politico reports:
In a brief order, Cannon required all attorneys in the case — for Trump as well as his longtime valet, Walt Nauta, who is charged alongside him as an alleged co-conspirator — to contact the Justice Department about obtaining security clearances. The same instructions apply to any “forthcoming” attorneys, the judge said.
CNN's Shan Wu has reported that Trump's attornies are now seeking security clearance as ordered by Cannon.
Wu, referring to Trump's attornies, said:
They are going to be seeking a hurry-up process known as an interim clearance. There won't be time to finish a full background, which is quite exhaustive. They will interviewing neighbors, people that they had gone to school with, et cetera. But to get the interim in place, the FBI can work pretty quickly on that.
Wu went on to say that she "would expect them to be able to complete that process within a few weeks, assuming that Trump's lawyers get all their paperwork in."
This will be something to keep an eye on. Also, something to keep an eye on is how Trump's legal team evolves - if it does evolve.
Trump has been having a hard time finding lawyers - not because no lawyer wants to represent him - but because left-wing groups have threatened any lawyer who represents Trump with disbarment.
