House Democrats have introduced a bill that would strip Secret Service protection from convicted felons who have been sentenced to prison. This is a move directly targeting former President Trump, who is currently on criminal trial in New York City and facing multiple criminal charges for allegedly paying hush money during his 2016 election campaign. Other incidents that could land him in jail.
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Mississippi), former chairman of the now-disbanded Jan. 6 Congressional Committee, automatically extended Secret Service protection to those convicted of federal or state felonies. He has submitted a bill to terminate it. Years of imprisonment.
The proposed bill is provocatively called the “Denial of Unlimited Security and Government Resources Appropriated to Convicted and Highly Dishonored Former Guardians Act.”
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President Trump then gets into a waiting SUV in Bethesda, Maryland, on May 16, 2018. Mississippi Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson has introduced a bill that would strip former President Donald Trump of Secret Service protection. (Alex Edelman Pool/Getty Images)
“Unfortunately, current law does not contemplate how Secret Service protection would affect a protected person, even a former president, on a felony prison sentence,” Thompson said in a statement. .
“It is unfortunate that this has happened, but this previously unthinkable scenario could become a reality.”
A so-called “fact sheet” accompanying Thompson’s statement said that Trump faces “an unprecedented 91 felonies in federal and state courts,” which would “extend Secret Service protection to criminals.” New emergencies have arisen that Congress must address without intervening.” Judicial procedure and judicial administration. ”
The one-page document says the bill would apply to former President Trump if he was convicted of a felony, and would also apply to all Secret Service protected persons who have been convicted and sentenced for a felony. It is stated that.
The law creates logistical problems for both the Secret Service and prison authorities because current law does not take into account how Secret Service security is managed for wards serving prison sentences. It points out that there is a possibility.
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At a House Homeland Security Committee hearing, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Mississippi) introduced a bill that would strip former President Donald Trump of Secret Service protection. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
Thompson said the proposed bill would avoid such complications if former President Trump were sentenced to prison.
“Therefore, we need to be prepared to change our laws to ensure that Americans are not privileged in their protected status and that those sentenced to prison serve the requisite term. “There is,” he said. Mr. Thompson said.
He will also address suggestions that if Trump is convicted, he would likely face some form of home confinement rather than a prison sentence, given that he has Secret Service protection. is.
“This bill eliminates the possibility of conflicting lines of power within prisons and allows judges to consider individual sentencing without considering the logistical concerns of prisoners under Secret Service protection. ,” the document states.
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Former President Donald Trump during jury selection in his “hush money” trial at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, April 15, 2024. (Angela Weiss/AFP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Secret Service protection is afforded not only to former presidents and other senior officials, but also to current presidents and their families. Following the assassination of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, protections were extended to presidential candidates from major political parties, but Kennedy’s son remains under Secret Service protection as he prepares to run as an independent candidate in 2024. I haven’t received it.
As well as the hush money trial, Trump is facing charges in Georgia of trying to overturn the 2020 election in an extortion case. He is also scheduled to stand trial in Florida on charges of storing classified White House documents and in Washington, D.C., on charges of conspiracy to overturn the results of his election defeat.
He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
