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Rep. Bennie Thompson introduced legislation that would remove Secret Service protection for former presidents convicted of federal crimes punishable by over one year in prison.
Thompson chaired the January 6 committee that investigated Trump.
“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,” Thompson stated.
“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,” he said.
Thompson said the 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.”
His bill, called the DISGRACED Former Protectees Act, does not name Trump but was written in response to Trump facing over 90 state and federal felony charges.
“Former President Donald J. Trump’s unprecedented 91 felony charges in Federal and State courts across the country 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 fact sheet reads.
It aims to prevent protective status from interfering with criminal proceedings.
Byron York, the Chief Political Correspondent with the Washington Examiner, argued the bill’s obvious subtext is making it easier for someone to kill Trump, which York claims may be Thompson’s goal.
“Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson ran the January 6 committee, which mixed elements of show trial and reality series. Focused solely on Trump, of course. Now, Thompson wants to take away Trump’s Secret Service protection if Trump is convicted on any of the 88 felony charges levelled against him by elected Democratic prosecutors and a Biden Justice Department appointee. Obvious subtext here is that removing USSS would make it easier for someone to kill Trump, which is arguably the goal of Thompson’s bill, H.R. 8081: The DISGRACED Former Protectees Act,” York wrote.
Trump’s ongoing hush money trial saw over 50 of 96 potential jurors dismissed on the first day for claimed inability to be impartial, and another 48 the next day.
He faces 34 falsifying records charges related to payments made to Stormy Daniels in 2016.
