# Trump, potential incarceration, and Secret Service protection **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [April 19, 2024, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-potential-incarceration-and-secret-service-protection/1000506 "2024-04-19T16:05:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2024, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-potential-incarceration-and-secret-service-protection/1000506/61 "2024-04-24T21:40:49Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > Sign them. True. He has that DOWN. > [@Procrustus](#): > > And TV is a quandary. Only certain channels. But probably doesn’t matter. It seems that his favorites may be turning away from him. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2024, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-potential-incarceration-and-secret-service-protection/1000506/62 "2024-04-24T22:06:45Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > What’s he going to do with books? Stand on them, shouting “Look how tall I am! Tall, the likes of which you have never seen!” ---
**Author:** ![Old\_Wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecccb3/32.png) [@Old\_Wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Old_Wench)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2024, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-potential-incarceration-and-secret-service-protection/1000506/63 "2024-04-24T22:29:28Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > > [@enipla](#): > > > > I’d let him have unlimited access to TV and books > > What’s he going to do with books? Color in them. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2024, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-potential-incarceration-and-secret-service-protection/1000506/64 "2024-04-24T22:55:17Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > I’m following the Yahoo News live feed and they link to a NYT report (Yahoo version [here](https://www.yahoo.com/news/could-trump-prison-does-secret-122213421.html)) about ongoing talks for how to handle jailing Trump. > > The live blog (which does not seem to allow linking to specific posts, hence the cut-and-paste) lists Trump-specific things the Secret Service would need to do: > > ```auto > Armed Secret Service agents would rotate in and out of the facility 24/7. > > ``` Prison guards are NOT ordinarily armed due to risk of prisoners grabbing away their gun. Having armed Secret Service agents in the prison is a dangerous idea. I suppose they are thinking that Trump, an old man, would be kept away from other prisoners, so that the normal reasons for keeping prison guards unarmed do not apply. I guess the New York State authorities agreed to this because then they aren’t responsible for a difficult potential prisoner. But it does not sound wise to me. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2024, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-potential-incarceration-and-secret-service-protection/1000506/65 "2024-04-25T00:04:49Z")
From the OP’s link “But could Trump’s behavior actually be part of a bigger strategy, where he actually wants to go to prison? Trump is very devious and was a student of master dirty trickster Roy Cohn. We can’t overlook that.” Yes, we most certainly can. Trump is devious, but his plotting and planning involves other people suffering, never himself. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2024, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-potential-incarceration-and-secret-service-protection/1000506/66 "2024-04-25T02:02:45Z")
I think Trump likes the idea of getting himself thrown in jail but I have a feeling he won’t like the reality of it. Judge Merchan doesn’t have to throw him in the clink for 30 days times whatever the rolling number of gag order violations is right now (10 is the last number I saw but it’s been a few hours so it could be double that by now knowing Trump). I feel like Trump would be climbing the walls somewhere between 48-72 hours in. That’s what I’d like to see. Merchan throws Trump in jail over a weekend, just one single weekend. Once Trump is out, let him know that any further nonsense means going to jail for ten times as long per incident. It won’t help, of course. But it would sure make me feel better. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2024, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-potential-incarceration-and-secret-service-protection/1000506/67 "2024-04-25T02:11:57Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > Merchan throws Trump in jail over a weekend, just one single weekend. I saw a commentator (a former judge) propose that the judge sentence him to jail, but suspend the sentence until the end of trial, with an understanding that the judge would re-evaluate the time required to be served at that time. It’d be torture for donald, _especially_ if the judge gave him a minimum of a day or two in jail _even if_ he’s perfectly compliant from here on out. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2024, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-potential-incarceration-and-secret-service-protection/1000506/68 "2024-04-27T22:02:42Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > I’d let him have unlimited access to TV and books. Everyone seems to think it is OK for him to get special treatment, whether positive or negative, so I guess he will. But other prisoners do not get unlimited TV, so he should not. They can be mailed books from a vendor, as books mailed from family or friends might have something slipping in. They can be mailed newspapers. Mail, whether postal or email, is censored, but not in a way to stop right-wing opinions. I found [this written by a prison mail clerk](https://www.quora.com/Is-mail-to-inmates-censored-If-so-what-is-not-allowed) in Alabama: > [@](#): > > The amount of actual censorship today is limited in view of First Amendment rights. The inmates can pretty much have their girlie magazines and photographs, unless they feature total nudity, genital exposure, female toplessness, or are sexually explicit. Likewise, censorship of reading material has largely been relaxed. I let through some pretty radical and anarchist literature, but I browse through it to make sure it isn’t calling for prison riots. Assuming conviction, the whole idea of equal justice may apparently go out the window once Secret Service agents, without full prison guard training, get involved ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-potential-incarceration-and-secret-service-protection/1000506/69 "2024-04-28T01:12:22Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > The inmates can pretty much have their girlie magazines and photographs, unless they feature total nudity, genital exposure, female toplessness, or are sexually explicit. So basically a clothing catalog or a Vogue magazine? ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-potential-incarceration-and-secret-service-protection/1000506/70 "2024-04-28T02:05:09Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > I saw a commentator (a former judge) propose that the judge sentence him to jail, but suspend the sentence until the end of trial, with an understanding that the judge would re-evaluate the time required to be served at that time. > > It’d be torture for donald, _especially_ if the judge gave him a minimum of a day or two in jail _even if_ he’s perfectly compliant from here on out. That could work, although Trump might take it as yet another skate away from consequences, figuring once he’s triumphed in the trial the judge wouldn’t dare. ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-potential-incarceration-and-secret-service-protection/1000506/71 "2024-04-28T04:54:45Z")
Beau of the Fifth Column recently brought up something that I hadn’t seen mentioned in any of the threads I’ve been following here: The SS is very concerned with their ability to _move_ their protectee when a threat arises. I can see that being a real problem if he’s stuck in a cell and also behind several other locked doors. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-potential-incarceration-and-secret-service-protection/1000506/72 "2024-04-28T17:02:13Z")
> [@Ponderoid](#): > > The SS is very concerned with their ability to _move_ their protectee when a threat arises. I can see that being a real problem if he’s stuck in a cell and also behind several other locked doors. Well, there’s only so much they can do. They have to live with the situation they have. If he can’t be saved, he can’t be saved. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-potential-incarceration-and-secret-service-protection/1000506/73 "2024-04-28T19:01:27Z")
Hence the trailer or tiny house. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-potential-incarceration-and-secret-service-protection/1000506/74 "2024-04-28T19:07:50Z")
> [@rocking\_chair](#): > > tiny house The proposed Trump Library, that is. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-potential-incarceration-and-secret-service-protection/1000506/75 "2024-04-28T19:41:08Z")
Has this from last week been mentioned? > **[Secret Service agent removed from Harris’s security detail after...](https://www.wate.com/news/secret-service-agent-removed-from-harriss-security-detail-after-distressing-behavior/)** > > The Secret Service special agent, who was working on the vice president’s departure from Joint Base Andrews on Monday morning, “began displaying behavior their colleagues found distressing.”… This may be too far out to mention, but it’s not totally unknown for national leaders to be killed by their bodyguards. If Trump is sentenced to prison, and I was a sincere Trump aide, I might advise he waive SS protection if incarcerated in New York or federally. Politically, the waiver would look good, and I’m not sure SS protection would really help him personally. Georgia could be another story. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-potential-incarceration-and-secret-service-protection/1000506/76 "2024-04-28T22:49:15Z")
From the Trump Won’t Be The Republican Nominee thread: > [@Trump won't be the Republican party nominee in 2024](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wont-be-the-republican-party-nominee-in-2024/996834/831): > > Irishman ([https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)) > > [2h](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wont-be-the-republican-party-nominee-in-2024/996834/835) > > > [@Trump won't be the Republican party nominee in 2024](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wont-be-the-republican-party-nominee-in-2024/996834/831): > > > > I think the likeliest outcome would be a facility with exactly one prisoner—Trump. There likely exists such a place, or they could easily construct one. Trump will never be anywhere near a general prison population. Picture Frankie Pentangeli’s setup in _The Godfather II_. > > That is something conceivable. It gets closest to my desire for prison time. A real facility with all the limits of a typical prison, including bars on the doors, a crapper in the cell, limited amenities, and boring gray walls. No gold gilding or plush chairs. > > > [@Trump won't be the Republican party nominee in 2024](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wont-be-the-republican-party-nominee-in-2024/996834/831): > > > > And accommodating a SS detail would be trivially easy. It would be the most boring detail of their careers, but I’m sure they could provide a few stools so the agents wouldn’t have to stand all day. > > In that kind of accommodation, SS would probably be the jailers. Yeah, no gen pop means little risk. > > > [@Trump won't be the Republican party nominee in 2024](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wont-be-the-republican-party-nominee-in-2024/996834/833): > > > > If the courts sentence him to prison or jail, the Secret Service will figure out a solution. They don’t get to say, “Sorry, no can do.” > > Oh I agree, I just think there will be considerable pressure on the courts to avoid actual prison. House arrest at Mar-a-lago or any fancy property he owns is insufficient. But I could see appeals go rapidly up the court system to keep him out of any real prison, even a “club fed”. And this Supreme Court, there’s no telling what they will do. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-potential-incarceration-and-secret-service-protection/1000506/77 "2024-04-28T22:55:20Z")
> [@Trump won't be the Republican party nominee in 2024](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wont-be-the-republican-party-nominee-in-2024/996834/835): > > [Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)Contemptible Greedhead > > [2h](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wont-be-the-republican-party-nominee-in-2024/996834/836) > > > [@Trump won't be the Republican party nominee in 2024](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wont-be-the-republican-party-nominee-in-2024/996834/835): > > > > Oh I agree, I just think there will be considerable pressure on the courts to avoid actual prison > > Pressure from whom? What bad thing might occur if the judge ignores said pressure? I think there will be political pressure from Republicans in Congress and governors to see something done “for his protection”. The judges might not be directly constrained but I can see Appeals courts weighing in, and as I said, the Supreme Court is liable to do anything. I’m glad there’s this much thought going on to how to do it. Gives me some relief we might actually see it. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-potential-incarceration-and-secret-service-protection/1000506/78 "2024-04-28T23:25:49Z")
Re mention of Country Club prisons in the other thread, and Club Med here, this is a myth. Googling, New York State has few minimum security beds, and they mostly are in something called “shock treatment.” No golf! This is federal, but points out something significant: [The Myth of Club Fed](https://jacksharman.com/2015/08/06/the-myth-of-club-fed/) > [@](#): > > _When Mr. Gupta [arrived](http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/06/13/ex-goldman-director-guptas-last-days-of-freedom/) in June 2014, he was assigned to Devens’s minimum security camp, which houses 135 inmates. But in April, Mr. Gupta was sent for six weeks to the Special Housing Unit, or SHU (pronounced “shoe,” as fans of the Netflix series “Orange Is the New Black” know), as punishment. His infraction was having an unauthorized item: an extra pillow._ > > _Inmates often grab the pillows of departing prisoners. Mr. Gupta hoped an extra pillow would help with a bad back._ Donald Trump is a man who would test prison policy limits. When he does, is the Secret Service going in the hole with him? More likely, SS would veto normal prison punishments. New York State already having agreed to let SS in their facility tells me that he isn’t really going to have a prison experience. Also, he is too old. After a couple days he would say he was sick. Then, wanting to get rid of him and the SS, I’m guessing the warden would say the prison hospital couldn’t handle his supposedly complex medical condition, and let him go to a VIP suite in an Ivy League Manhattan hospital. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-potential-incarceration-and-secret-service-protection/1000506/79 "2024-04-28T23:31:55Z")
I can’t imagine why you continue to have this idea that Trump could end up in some Oz-like facility. He’s not going to “end up in the hole.” If he misbehaves, he’ll have to cool his heels in his cell, ranting to his heart’s content. He’ll be in no danger of a prison riot, or a cell mate pulling a shiv on him, and Cool Hand Luke is not going to be his cellie. If he’s incarcerated it will likely be in an isolated facility, extremely well protected, where he is the only prisoner. And the Secret Service will have no authority to veto anything. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-potential-incarceration-and-secret-service-protection/1000506/80 "2024-04-29T00:08:31Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > I can’t imagine why you continue to have this idea that Trump could end up in some Oz-like facility. Googling, you are referring to a TV show about maximum security. No way an old man like him needs it. > [@Stratocaster](#): > > If he’s incarcerated it will likely be in an isolated facility, extremely well protected, where he is the only prisoner. > > And the Secret Service will have no authority to veto anything. They already vetoed him having a normal old guy white collar prison experience by wanting to be amateur prison guards. Maybe it is irrelevant because the Supreme Court will quickly knock down any real prison possibility. Maybe it is irrelevant because he will claim to be at death’s door, and then, surprise, lives for many years after a quick health care release (former Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian has been out on medical parole since 2015). Or maybe there will be an acquittal or mistrial. Or maybe Trump will actually be incarcerated for more than a few days, so I should just wait and post about whether there was equal justice then. Or are you saying it isn’t the SS that wants him isolated, but actually the New York State authorities that want to build a true Prison for One? This would be quite unpopular with New York State taxpayers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-potential-incarceration-and-secret-service-protection/1000506.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-potential-incarceration-and-secret-service-protection/1000506.md?page=5)