If it seems like Trump committed an offense that warrants being arrested is there any way that the secret service charged with protecting him would be the ones to arrest him? And if so how would such an order come down? Could Biden order that arrest? Or would the Secret Service try to keep Trump from being arrested?
Are you talking only about the election/insurrection-related crimes from a while back? If so, then I don’t see how the Secret Service would have any way of getting involved in the arrest, since AFAIK they’re not involved in the investigation into those crimes.
Not necessarily but from your post it seems like they would not assist in making a legal arrest.
And the next thread as of now is " Secret Service deleted texts around January 6 as part of a “device-replacement” program"
Makes the question more “Would they?” than “Can they?”.
[Moderating]
This thread is in Factual Questions, and the question of whether they can make the arrest is a factual one. The question of whether they would is not a factual one, and would belong in one of the more political forums.
My question has to do if they can and what would be the mechanism to effect the arrest by the secret service and also if they are in a position to prevent legal arrest in their protection of Trump.
My apologies.
This thread over at Stackexchange seems to have a fairly thorough and factual-sounding answer:
If arresting officers showed up to make the arrest, my sense would be that the Secret Service would probably hold them at bay while checking their identity and travel with them to ensure the safety of the protectee through the charging/jailing process, until relieved.
Of course, every agent is their own, individual person so what the laws and rules say won’t necessarily play out in reality. Until it actually happens, this is all going to be supposition.
Is there a case of the Secret Service ever arresting someone they were charged with protecting?
I can’t think of anyone under SS protection who’s been arrested. Even George Bush’s daughters, who got in trouble for underage drinking, were just given citations, not arrested.
Could the SS even arrest the Bush daughters for underage drinking if they wanted to?
IIRC drinking laws are a state issue and not a federal issue. The SS has no jurisdiction to enforce state drinking laws (and no obligation that I am aware of).
The question is more what they would do if a state trooper arrested the Bush daughters for underage drinking.
Also, I would think if the SS detail’s job is to protect someone they cannot be in the business of arresting them for any infraction. It would make the people they are supposed to protect try to avoid them. If their charge was really crossing the line (i.e. a serious felony) I would think the SS would intervene to stop what was happening but not arrest them.
I’d be interested to know what they would do if they caught their charge counterfeiting money.
What if you’re drinking in DC?