Judge orders Trump lawyers to seek security clearances

U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon took one of her first substantive steps Thursday in Donald Trump’s prosecution for amassing military secrets at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

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.

It is common in criminal cases involving classified documents for defense attorneys to obtain security clearances.

The case against Trump revolves around his alleged hoarding of highly classified national security documents at his private residence, and then obstructing efforts by federal officials to reclaim them. To make its case, the government is likely going to have to share key aspects of those documents with Trump and his legal team. Some may also be declassified and publicly revealed as part of the prosecution, though the Justice Department has not signaled any immediate intention to do so.

Cannon ordered the attorneys to file a “notice of compliance” by June 20, a relatively rapid pace. Both Trump and Nauta are looking to fill out their legal teams in the coming days. Trump, in particular, has suffered setbacks as several of his veteran lawyers quit the case in the leadup to his indictment, the result of internal turmoil that has spilled into public view.

There are no additional dates set yet in the case against Trump, whose historic arraignment was completed on Tuesday in Miami. Nauta’s arraignment was postponed until June 27 because he did not yet have a lawyer who is a member of the bar in the federal court in south Florida.