GOP lawmakers Tuesday slammed a Dem bill that would strip former President Donald Trump of his security detail if he goes to prison, with one noting Jeffrey Epstein’s fate behind bars.
Sparring during a congressional hearing, Democratic House Homeland Security Committee ranking member Bennie Thompson of Mississippi tried to defend introducing the DISGRACED Former Protectees Act in April.
The bill would take away Secret Service protection for Trump, or any other person qualifying for it, if they are convicted of a crime and sent to prison.
“Republicans have made a lot of hay about the bill, saying it’s about former President Trump and would take away his security — that just is not true,” Thompson insisted at the panel hearing, which was originally held to debrief local Pennsylvania law enforcement officials on Trump’s near-assassination July 13.
“The bill doesn’t mention former Trump, President Trump, and it would not have affected security at this tragic event,” Thompson said.
“The bill talks about any Secret Service protectee who is convicted of a felony and sentenced to serve jail time — and it does not take away security,” Thompson said.
“The bill makes clear that when a protectee is sentenced and remanded to the custody of prison officials, the Secret Service is able to hand off the prisoner in an orderly fashion and that Secret Service agents aren’t forced to become correctional officers, too,” he said. “That’s the legislation.”
Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.) fired back, cautioning his colleague about “how rhetoric and the things we do, messaging bills that we do, shapes discussion and impacts people.
Everything we know about the Trump assassination attempt
- 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks was identified as the shooter who attempted to assassinate Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
- Crooks was shot dead by Secret Service agents.
- The gunman grazed Trump’s ear, killed a 50-year-old retired fire chief, and injured two other rally-goers.
- Investigators detailed Crooks’ search history to lawmakers, revealing that he looked for the dates of Trump’s appearances and the Democratic National Convention.
- Crooks’ search history also revealed a broad interest in high-profile people and celebrities, regardless of their political affiliation, FBI officials reportedly said.
- Trump exclusively recounted surviving the “surreal” assassination attempt with The Post at the rally, remarking, “I’m supposed to be dead.”
- High-profile politicians, including President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, addressed the nation about the shooting, calling it “a heinous, horrible and cowardly act.”
“Prison isn’t necessarily a safer place — you can ask Mr. Epstein’s family about that,” Green said, referring to the notorious pedophile financier who was found dead in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan in August 2019.
Epstein’s death was officially ruled a suicide, although his brother, lawyer and online conspiracy theorists, as well as well-known pathologist Michael Baden, have claimed he was killed.
“To suggest that somehow you’d have the security necessary in a prison I think is just not an accurate statement,” Green told Thompson.
“I agree with the ranking member that his bill did say that would not apply in this particular case,” Green said. “You know, it’s more about what we’re doing and what we’re saying at certain times that generates the attitude in our society.”
Pennsylvania authorities, quizzed by Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas), said stripping security resources from any division would put “additional” burdens on others.
Here’s the latest on the assassination attempt against Donald Trump:
- Trump reveals what Biden told him on call after assassination attempt — says he refused to be put on a stretcher
- Attempted Trump assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks’ ‘pathway to violence’ explained
- Florida man arrested for ‘written threats to kill’ Trump, Vance days after assassination attempt
- Secret Service honchos denied Trump additional security for 2 years before assassination attempt: damning revelation
Thompson, who led the House Select January 6th Committee that investigated the 2021 Capitol riot, had directly referenced Trump in a statement when introducing his proposed legislation.
He claimed at the time that it was necessary to 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.
“Unfortunately, current law doesn’t anticipate how Secret Service protection would impact the felony prison sentences of a protectee — even a former president,” Thompson said.
He called the need to author the bill “regrettable.”
The bill’s fact sheet explicitly cited Trump’s “unprecedented 91 felony charges in Federal and State courts across the country,” saying they “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.
“This measure would apply to former President Trump” if he is convicted of a felony, the sheet proclaimed, as the 45th commander in chief is scheduled for a Sept. 18 sentencing date in his Manhattan “hush money” conviction.
Trump, 78, was nearly killed in an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pa.
Shortly after the shooting, one of Thompson’s aides wrote online, “don’t miss next time.”
Thompson axed the staffer the next day.