“You could be in a situation where, if the president wants her on his trips, and he’s in Air Force One, and he is on the phone, and she’s sitting in the cabin there because she’s doing something else, even if she doesn’t give advice on how to handle Iran and he’s on the phone talking about the next strike on Iran, right then and there she needs a security clearance.”

Richard Painter · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-20

Painter elaborated on a hypothetical scenario requiring Harp to have security clearance.