Rudy Giuliani, who joined President Donald Trump’s legal team in the Russia probe last month, may have a hard time getting a security clearance, Reuters news agency reported today.
Although many of Giuliani’s clients have not been publicly disclosed, it has been established that he has worked as a lawyer and security and business consultant on behalf of the government of Mexico City and the Qatari state oil company. This, according to experts Reuters talked to, could turn out to be a problem.
Giuliani’s contacts with foreign clients could raise red flags about his susceptibility to foreign influence. In fact, they could “cause a significant delay, if not outright denial of clearance,” Virginia lawyer John V. Berry told Reuters . This may turn out to be a major issue for Giuliani, Berry added, because “it’s hard to represent someone without knowing what’s in the files.”
Giuliani, a former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, joined Donald Trump’s legal team on April 19, 2018. As the Washington Post noted, this maneuver reflected how turbulent and difficult it is for the president to find attorneys to represent him in the ongoing federal probe into Russian election interference.
Yesterday, as the Inquisitr reported, Giuliani told the press he thinks his client’s Russia probe interview with Special Counsel Robert Mueller should be limited in time and scope: a couple of hours long, and about Russian interference exclusively. The two legal teams have been negotiating the terms of a possible interview for months and have not reached an agreement yet.
Trump lawyers in Mueller probe lack security clearance for interview: report https://t.co/U4az97dUTt pic.twitter.com/z8vqBZYSoh
— The Hill (@thehill) May 3, 2018
Rudy Giuliani’s lack of clearance may further complicate things. Washington national security lawyer Bradley Moss told Reuters that Trump might ultimately decide to keep Giuliani as part of his team, since it could be too much trouble to get him a security clearance.
On the other hand, it is Donald Trump who has the power to grant clearance. The president’s son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner, received a temporary clearance, but lost it in February, 2018. The reason Kushner didn’t receive a full clearance are his financial and business connections.
Giuliani appears to be in a similar position. Investigators conducting background checks for security clearances, Reuters noted, pay attention to how strong a person’s ties are with a foreign country.
