Trump has set up an 'embarrassing' trap for his own lawyers: national security attorney

Donald Trump's chief defense will face an early test soon when his attorneys appear for a hearing to decide how to handle issues involving classified materials.

The former president insists that he lawfully declassified all the materials he took from the White House before leaving office, but national security attorney Brad Moss told The Messenger that the hearing scheduled for Friday would force Trump to "put up or shut up."

“Will they try to challenge [Classified Information Procedures Act] being applied at all?” Moss said. “Will they claim that all of this was declassified, and therefore they don't have to go through that process? I don't expect that to be the case, but it'd be a little bit embarrassing for them to have to deal with classified restrictions for something that client says was declassified.”

Trump's co-defendant and personal valet Walt Nauta's attorney has already tried to delay the CIPA hearing, citing a scheduling conflict, but also saying he could not "meaningfully" take part without getting a security clearance -- which prosecutors called a weak excuse.

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"Perhaps more to the point, as of this writing, Mr. Woodward has yet to complete his Form SF-86, which is necessary for him to receive both an interim clearance and final adjudication, despite having been put in contact with the Litigation Security Group on June 12, some three-and-a-half weeks ago," said Jay Bratt, a high-ranking member of special counsel Jack Smith's team.

Moss accused Woodward of "stalling," and presiding Judge Aileen Cannon gave all attorneys involved in the case until Wednesday to complete their applications for security clearances, which will then be examined by the federal government.

An interim clearance could be granted within days if “no red flags pop up,” Moss said, citing foreign government contacts, financial problems or drug use as examples.

“The full investigation will likely take a minimum of 45 days,” Moss said.