If Imprisoned, Trump and Future Criminal Ex-Presidents Could Lose Secret Service Protection Under Proposed Legislation
Rep. Thompson introduced legislation Friday to strip Donald of his Secret Service detail if he is convicted of fraud in the "hush money" case.
Have you ever heard the saying “Necessity breeds invention”?
It usually applies to technological inventions that come about when someone recognizes the need for something that does not yet exist.
But it can also apply to policies, procedures, rules, and laws.
Something the “Trump era” has forced us to do is examine how we conduct government business in the United States. We have a Constitution some have challenged and tested, but it has held up because those in power have historically respected it and the institutions it helped create. Congress’s job is to make laws that address the country’s apparent needs.
With the election of Donald Trump in 2016, however, we entered a whole new uncharted realm of constitutional questions and conundrums with a head of our government who thumbed his nose at the rule of law and the country’s core principles.
Now that Donald (as his niece Mary amusingly calls him) is officially the first former president to face possible criminal prosecution, some are asking about his Secret Service protection should he actually be found guilty and imprisoned.
While former presidents aren’t required to have it, federal law entitles them to lifetime protection from the US Secret Service. Only an act of Congress or executive order can withdraw it.
Under the law’s current language, that guardianship would continue even if the former president is confined to a jail cell, something we have never seen before.
Ronald Kessler, author of two books about the Secret Service, In the President’s Secret Service and The First Family Detail, speculated, “There wouldn’t be a Secret Service agent inside his cell, but I expect that there would be two agents outside of his cell, two agents in the corridor leading up to the cell block and another two agents at the entrance to the prison.”
Retired federal judge, Joseph Cosgrove, added:
Let’s assume the worst for Mr. Trump: if he were sentenced to some sort of confinement, he would be confined with his secret service agents.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, the former chairman of the House January 6 Committee, and ranking member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, wants to change that.
Thompson introduced legislation Friday to strip Donald of his Secret Service detail if he is convicted of fraud in the “hush money” case.
Rep. Thompson explained:
Unfortunately, current law doesn’t anticipate how Secret Service protection would impact the felony prison sentence of a protectee — even a former President. It is regrettable that it has come to this, but this previously unthought-of scenario could become our reality.
The “Denying Infinite Security and Government Resources Allocated toward Convicted and Extremely Dishonorable (DISGRACED) Former Protectees” Act does not name Donald specifically and would apply to all future presidents if they were convicted for state or federal offenses punishable by at least a year in prison.
Rep. Thompson added:
This bill would remove the potential for conflicting lines of authority within prisons and allow judges to weigh the sentencing of individuals without having to factor in the logistical concerns of convicts with Secret Service protection.
Whether this will ever see the light of day is doubtful with a republican-controlled House in which a MAGA so-called “Christian” nationalist serves as speaker.
But that’s not really the point.
Lawmakers introduce legislation unlikely to be brought to the floor all the time when they feel it’s time to insert certain issues into the public record. Bills also don’t expire if they’re not acted on immediately, which means should a Democratic speaker (like Hakeem Jeffries) be voted in, Rep. Thompson’s bill could be re-introduced. If Donald is in prison by then benefiting from taxpayer-funded Secret Service protection, it could be revoked; if not, at least we would have something on the books to prevent a future wanna-be Donald from receiving government protection should she or he be imprisoned for at least a year.
It might not even ever be necessary, but we would at least have a firewall in place for posterity to have in its back pocket.
It’s unlikely Donald will ever see inside a cell. The best outcome is his never being in a position again to appoint judges or serve as the steward for our economy.
But, hey, for the first time in history a former president is facing criminal prosecution.
It could happen.
These are interesting times.