Under current United States federal law , all former prexy are ennoble to lifetime tribute from theSecret Service . Barring an human activity of Congress or a presidentialexecutive edict , the Secret Service isbound by lawtoprotect former presidentsfor life . There are n’t any exceptions listed in thestatutegoverning the trade protection of former presidents .
The only legal grounds presently for give up protection would be if a former president give up his rightfield to his Secret Service detail , which only one former chairman has ever done . Richard Nixonwaived his Secret Service protection11 years after go away business office in disgrace follow the Watergate scandal . ( Nixon decided to pay for his own protection to save the U.S. government some money . )
But now , former President Donald Trump has beenindicted on 37 countsby the U.S. Justice Department for mismanage classified documents he kept after leaving function and then obstructing the political science ’s efforts to recover them . He could confront up to 20 year of prison house fourth dimension for blockage of justness , the accusation with the highest penalty . Trump was previously indict onmultiple felony chargesrelated to misstate the purpose of a payment to the adult motion picture star Stormy Daniels . ( This can beconsidered a felonyif it is done to obliterate another criminal offence . )
The Secret Service Goes With the President
Trump ’s various indictments have pull up stakes many wonder if the Secret Service would companion Trump ( or any other convicted former president ) to prison house .
" Yes , no interrogation , " saidRonald Kessler , author of two volume about the Secret Service : " In the President ’s Secret Service " and " The First Family Detail . " " There would n’t be a Secret Service agent inside his cell , but I expect that there would be two agents outside of his cell , two agents in the corridor leading up to the cell block and another two agents at the entrance to the prison house . "
Other observer , let in a former Secret Service agent , havesaidthat as few as two Secret Service federal agent could be post at the prison , but Kessler called that " demented . "
" Just think it through , " he say . " What would just two agent do in such a dangerous environment ? "
Kessler approximate that Trump ’s current Secret Security detail consists of as many as 30 full Secret Service officers with only 10 or 12 agent on duty at any given prison term .
But would there be any limited accommodation for an incarcerated former commander in chief ?
" [ The prison house ] would have to service him meals in his cellular telephone . He could n’t be with the general population , " said Kessler . " That ’s the only accommodation . He would n’t be given any special treatment . He would n’t be given a telephone set for example . It would just be pure protection . "
But protection is nothing to be sneeze at — specially in prison house .
History of the Secret Service
The Secret Service wasformed in 1865as a federal law enforcement agency tasked with sniffing out counterfeiters . Secret Service agent started protecting sitting president in 1901 after the assassination ofWilliam McKinley . McKinley was thethird U.S. president assassinatedin less than 50 years , the others being Abraham Lincoln ( 1865 ) and James Garfield ( 1881 ) .
Former prexy started welcome Secret Service protection after the 1958Former Presidents Actand Dwight D. Eisenhower was the first former Chief Executive to receive that laurels . In 1965 , Congress institutedlifetime protectionfor former presidents .
Today , the Secret Service istasked with protecting :
A sit president or vice chairwoman can not resist Secret Service security while in bureau , but all of the others on that list can , including former presidents .
From 1994 through 2012 , former presidents were only title to 10 years of free Secret Service protection . Congress pass the natural law because it costs one thousand thousand of one dollar bill of taxpayer money to yield for round - the - clock security for former presidents and their mate . Congressrestoredthe lifetime guarantee in 2013 , citing heightened surety concerns .
