Judge Gives Trump Lawyers an Oct. 11 Deadline to Get Security Clearances in Jan. 6 Criminal Case – The Messenger
A federal judge on Tuesday gave former President Donald Trump's defense lawyers a deadline of Oct. 11 to finish getting their security clearances approved in the 2020 election interference case amid complaints from special counsel Jack Smith's team that the former president's team is trying to delay the start of next spring's Washington, D.C., trial.
U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan issued a one-paragraph "minute order" instructing the Trump attorneys — John Lauro and Gregory Singer — to "initiate and complete all security clearance tasks" spelled out by the Justice Department's Litigation Security Group.
Chutkan, who is overseeing the case and has scheduled a March 4, 2024, trial, said they must file a notice of compliance with the court by the middle of next week. They also must tell the court by then whether there are other defense lawyers "whose assistance is reasonably required" who also will need a security clearance.
Trump faces four federal felony charges in the case alleging he obstructed the 2020 presidential election through a series of events including the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. The former president has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
How much classified information is really in play in the Trump case in Washington, D.C, remains a source of contention.
Smith's team on Monday told Chutkan that it would be "narrow and incidental" to the overall trial, remarks that came in response to Trump's lawyers recently filing a pair of motions seeking more time to debate the classified information and to file their own pretrial motions.
The special counsel's office added in its Monday filing that the Trump lawyers' latest filings were really done "for the purpose of delaying trial."