Trump's attorneys could take 'months' to get all the needed security clearances: expert

Donald Trump's attorneys could spend "months" trying to obtain all the required security clearances to defend the former president in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case, said Jamil Jaffer of the George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School's National Security Institute on CNN Friday.

This comes after lawyer Jim Trusty bowed out of representing the former president in the case — and after District Judge Aileen Cannon ordered Trump's current attorneys, Todd Blanche and Chris Kise, to begin the process of obtaining clearances.

Asked about the significance of this step, Jaffer clarified more details.

"Well, it is critical they have security clearance because the documents that the president is charged with having possessed unlawfully and retained are top secret, sensitive compartmented information," said Jaffer. "They need not just top secret clearance, but additional clearance beyond that, including potentially access to 'special access programs,' which allows them to see all the documents that the president is charged with holding for the federal government."

Further asked about Cannon's approach to the trial, Jaffer offered his insights.

"It does appear the judge wants to move this along, ensure the attorneys are going to the Justice Department, getting the process started," said Jaffer. "These clearances can take months to get, and so that may take a while because not only do you have to conduct a ten-year background check, you have to run all that down, interview people and the like, getting these kinds of security clearances takes a while."

Cannon — a Trump appointee — has herself faced calls for recusal after her controversial effort to stonewall the FBI's review of classified documents earlier in the investigation.

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