House Democrats have introduced a bill that would strip Secret Service protection from convicted felons sentenced to prison, a move directly targeting former President Trump who is currently on criminal trial in New York City for alleged hush money payments made during the 2016 election campaign and faces several other cases which could land him behind bars.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., the former chair of the now disbanded Jan. 6 congressional committee, introduced legislation that would automatically nix Secret Service protection for those who have been convicted of a federal or state felony that carries a minimum one-year prison term.
The proposed bill is provocatively called the "Denying Infinite Security and Government Resources Allocated toward Convicted and Extremely Dishonorable (DISGRACED) Former Protectees Act.
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Rep. Bennie Thompson introduced a bill that would strip Secret Service protection from former President Trump. (Alex Edelman-Pool/Getty Images)
"Unfortunately, current law doesn’t anticipate how Secret Service protection would impact the felony prison sentence of a protected – even a former President," Thompson said in a statement.
"It is regrettable that it has come to this, but this previously unthought-of scenario could become our reality."
A so-called "fact sheet" accompanying Thompson’s statement notes that Trump is facing an "unprecedented 91 felony charges in federal and state courts" which have "created a new exigency that Congress must address to ensure Secret Service protection does not interfere with the criminal judicial process and the administration of justice."
The one-page document also states that the bill would apply to former President Trump should he be convicted of a felony, as well as to all Secret Service protectees convicted and sentenced under felony charges.
It notes that current law does not contemplate how Secret Service security would be administered to a protectee serving jail time and it therefore may pose logistical difficulties for both the Secret Service and prison authorities.
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Rep. Bennie Thompson before a House Homeland Security Committee hearing. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
The proposed bill, Thompson says, would avoid such complications with incarcerating former President Trump should he be ordered to serve jail time.
"Therefore, it is necessary for us to be prepared and update the law so the American people can be assured that protective status does not translate into special treatment – and that those who are sentenced to prison will indeed serve the time required of them," Thompson said.
It would also address suggestions that any potential conviction of Trump would likely result in some form of home confinement rather than prison time, given his Secret Service protection.
"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," the document states.
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Former President Trump at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York on April 15, 2024, during jury selection in his "hush money" trial. (Angela Weiss/AFP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Secret Service protection is afforded to current presidents and their family members as well as former presidents and other high level officials. Protection was expanded to major party presidential nominees following the assassination of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, although his son has not been provided with Secret Service protection for his 2024 independent run.
As well as the hush money trial, Trump is charged in Georgia with trying to overturn the 2020 election in a racketeering case. He also has upcoming trials in Florida over his alleged hoarding of classified White House documents and in Washington, D.C., where he is accused of conspiring to overturn the results of his election loss.
He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
