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.
"Unfortunately, current law doesn’t anticipate how Secret Service protection would impact the felony prison sentence of a protectee—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.
