Former President Donald Trump was just arraigned in federal court in Miami, Florida on Tuesday on the criminal indictment issued by Special Counsel Jack Smith over his alleged mishandling of government documents after he left the White House.

Just two days after that initial hearing, the federal judge presiding over the case -- at least for now -- issued an order Thursday for all current and future attorneys in the proceedings to immediately begin the process of obtaining a security clearance, Politico reported.

That was almost certainly due to the fact that the documents Trump is accused of having willfully retained without authorization are marked as classified by the government and contain sensitive defense and national security information that will inevitably need to be viewed and discussed by the attorneys.

Judge hands down first order in documents case

According to the Washington Examiner, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon wrote in the brief order, "On or before June 16, 2023, all attorneys of record and forthcoming attorneys of record shall contact the Litigation Security Group of the U.S. Department of Justice, if they have not done so already, to expedite the necessary clearance process for all team members anticipated to participate in this matter."

Cannon noted that the process to obtain a security clearance needed to be started no later than Tuesday, June 20, essentially allowing only the weekend for the attorneys to comply with her directive.

The Examiner reported that this was the first order handed down by Judge Cannon since taking over the case from U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman, who presided over the arraignment hearing on Tuesday in which former President Trump pleaded not guilty to the 37 federal felony counts pressed against him.

If convicted on all counts and given maximum consecutive sentences for each charge, Trump could be facing up to 400 years in prison and more than $9 million in fines -- though such an extreme punishment would be highly unlikely.

Lengthy and in-depth process to obtain security clearance

The New York Times reported that neither of the former president's two attorneys of record in this case -- Todd Blanche and Christopher Kise -- currently hold a security clearance with the federal government, but have already begun the process to obtain one.

Notably, the New York-based Blanche, a former federal prosecutor, has previously held a security clearance while Florida-based Kise is receiving assistance on the case from another attorney at his firm who already possesses a security clearance.

The Times noted that Judge Cannon's order for attorneys to "expedite" the process of obtaining a security clearance would seem to suggest that she intends to move the case along quickly, though it may also simply be indicative of the fact that the security clearance process can prove to be a lengthy one.

Applicants will have to fill out and submit an SF-86 form, a 136-page document and questionnaire that covers everything from finances to foreign travel, among many other subjects, and it typically takes around a month or longer for clearance approval to be granted.

Judge Cannon's involvement viewed as controversial by some

The Times further reported that Judge Cannon's order was suggestive that, at least for now, she has no plans to recuse herself from the case, which could spark some additional controversy over a potential conflict of interest.

The Examiner noted that Cannon was nominated by then-President Trump and confirmed by the Senate in November 2020, and was already heavily criticized over her prior involvement in the initial stages of Trump's legal issues in relation to his retention of government documents after leaving office.

It was in September 2022, after the FBI raided Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence weeks earlier in August, that Cannon had ruled in favor of Trump's request to appoint an independent special master to review all of the seized documents and ordered the Justice Department to pause its own review -- a ruling that was later overturned by an appeals court panel.