Former U.S. presidents are authorized a security detail from the Secret Service for life. If Trump loses the election and flees the country, does his security detail have to go with him if he requests it?
I imagine this could go down in a variety of ways: He departs the U.S. before he’s sentenced and just never returns, or he attempts to flees or does flees the U.S. after his sentencing. Either way, what happens to his security detail?
If he attempts to flees after he’s sentenced, I would hope the detail would refuse to take part in it (if he can even board a plane/leave the country to begin with), but given all their failings, who knows.
The whole point of the USSS protecting former Presidents is to prevent this exact thing from happening. The USSS would do everything in their power to prevent him from fleeing or to get him back.
I imagine the second he requests asylum or says he is a resident of another country, the USSS recalls every agent attached to him. They still work for a us government agency & are not answerable to a former, disgraced, president.
USSS is on this guy like flies on shit and you’d better believe he’s not going anywhere if he loses the election. TF do you think Harris is gonna do, just be like “yeah, that trump guy, fuck him, whatever.” Everyone knows that he’s a tremendous national security risk (which truly blows my mind - assholes are going to actively vote to sabotage their own country).
I’m not so sure he’s much of a security risk, unless he is still in possession of sensitive documents. I sincerely doubt he is capable of remembering anything in the way of valuable secrets. Anyways, even if he did, any adversary would be daft to trust he remembered correctly.
which truly blows my mind - assholes are going to actively vote to sabotage their own country
The problem is they don’t see it at all. Anyone who is truly in favor of Trump is watching propaganda that will always frame him as a poor victim of evil Democrat smear campaigns. Anyone else who is voting for him because they’re a Republican and they just always vote R is just not paying attention and also fall under the category of “not seeing it.” :(
He won’t be sentenced or ever face jail time.
AFAIK ex-presidents aren’t allowed to leave the country without specific permission, due to all the classified crap in their heads. If one tried to flee the country, it would be their detail’s duty to detain them.
Heck, they’re not even allowed to drive in public roads… not that Trump has probably ever driven a car.
No, most of this is untrue. Ex Presidents can refuse secret service detail. They are allowed to drive on public roads - that is a secret service rule that they can’t but it’s not against the law and Presidents don’t have to follow those rules. And they are allowed to live outside the US if a host country allows them.
But why bother? He has already sold everything he knows along with the contents of the documents he stole.
not that Trump has probably ever driven a car
Thanks for the confirmation, robobruddah
You could say the same about running off with boxes of classified docs and keeping them in a bathroom. Reality is they don’t care as long as he’s alive
Security is a privilege, not a mandate. Nixon dropped his in 1985.
Becoming a fugitive from justice would count as voluntarily giving up lots of privileges, the very least of which would be a publicly funded security detail.
I imagine they would just arrest him and hand him over for protection. Any member who allowed it would be breaking their oath and supporting an enemy of the state at that point would they not?
If we’re gaming the whole scenario out, I imagine it would go something like this.
None of his current convictions are expected to come with a custodial sentence, but say he loses the election, and the more serious trials are heating up. At that point, he knows he’s toast. 2028 is too late to run a fourth time; he’s got no more hail marys, so he dismisses his detail completely, retreats to Florida, and sneaks away to Saudi Arabia in the middle of the night.
He’s got a private jet, so getting out of the country shouldn’t be a huge problem. But I think you’re right that he has to set all this in motion before a guilty verdict is delivered. At that point, getting away from the secret service would be much more difficult.
None of his current convictions are expected to come with a custodial sentence
Strict adherence to sentencing guidelines actually would see him jailed on his current convictions. If he isn’t given some kind of imprisonment it will be because the judge was afraid of the aftermath.
The USSS would not have any obligation to a former president that is a fugitive from law.
As individuals they could abandon their service, which has serious legal remifications, and follow Trump of their own choice. I doubt any would do that because why they became USSS and how badly it would ruin their lives.
So I looked into the USSS, and here from their FAQ: "Under Title 18, Section 3056, of the United States Code, agents and officers of the United States Secret Service can:
Carry firearms
Execute warrants issued under the laws of the United States
Make arrests without warrants for any offense against the United States committed in their presence, or for any felony recognizable under the laws of the United States if they have reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be arrested has committed such felony
Offer and pay rewards for services and information leading to the apprehension of persons involved in the violation of the law that the Secret Service is authorized to enforce
Investigate fraud in connection with identification documents, fraudulent commerce, fictitious instruments and foreign securities and
Perform other functions and duties authorized by law"
This leads me to wonder just how many times a SS Agent witnessed Trump committing a felony in their presence but didn’t arrest him.
They have no obligation to enforce the law, just as a patrol cop does not need to pull you over for speeding. There also is having to be the guy that arrests Trump and the response that would bring you.
More to the point, if there is a warrant issued for his arrest, his secret service detail would need to arrest him.
They have no obligation to enforce the law, just as a patrol cop does not have to pull you over for speeding.
I’m pretty sure the options would be to arrest him or be fired for insubordination.
The protection detail would not arrest him. The agency with the warrant would coordinate with the secret service to either get access to Trump or, more likely, give Trump the opportunity to surrender.
if there is a warrant issued for his arrest, his secret service detail would need to arrest him.
Also if he tried to flee the country, I would expect.
Maybe Trump could escape the US by hiding in a box disguised as “music equipment” (https://www.bbc.com/news/business-57760993). Then the USSS wouldn’t have to accompany him.
He is more of a fan of his wife dying and hiding things in the coffin.
Melania falls down the stairs and he has her casket sent to her homeland of Slovenia or burial, which is quite the convenient place for him to find himself.
Maybe he could ensemble some sympathisers?
You forgot about the old “What’s that over there?” trick.
🏃♂️👉⁉️
Secret service takes their orders from the current president. So, if the order were given to bring him in they would have too.
Interesting question that hadn’t occurred to me. Great one to bring up as a thought experiment. I agree with a sibling comment that says he likely wouldn’t be covered if convicted, but this is also new (and previously unthinkable) territory.
It isn’t previously unthinkable, they just previously chose not to think about it. Reagan and Nixon are recent criminal presidents that were both spared prosecution and given full honors as former presidents.
Even those of us who wanted Bush Jr to stand trial for war crimes never thought it was possible. This is the first time it’s been a possibility for sure. That’s how far this asshole has run amuck.
I was strictly speaking violations of US law, not international law. That list is much more extensive.
