The Trump Post-Presidency and Insurrection

Just throwing some questions out there, hoping that someone knows enough law.It's pretty much a forgone conclusion that the multiple investigations into Trump's flagrant criminal activities will result in more indictments and prosecutions which are very likely to result in convictions. So what then? What are our options?If he gets a prison sentence/sentences, a big problem will concern the poor Secret Service agents who have to accompany him in prison in order to protect him, including accompanying him in the showers to keep him from getting shanked.Alternatives I've heard to shield those agents from such extremely onerous duty included placing Trump under house arrest. Major problems with house arrest including it being too light a sentence since he would just continue as he has been living, also foreign interests would still have access to him, etc. If house arrest would include restriction to quarters, then the Secret Service agent would also have to act as his jailor, something for which I'm sure they are not trained and may not even be empowered to do. And given the Secret Service's actions surrounding the insurrection (including the massive destruction of electronic information from agents' phones, which smacks of cover-up), would we even be able to trust that service to enforce the terms of Trump's sentence? And if he is convicted in Georgia, how will that be coordinated with his convictions for federal crimes? I'm sure that there are protocols and case law to give direction there, but if the Georgia judge were to sentence Trump to house arrest, how would they enforce that sentence if he lives out-of-state?One solution that I haven't heard mentioned would be to isolate him from the general population. When I'm feeling facetious, I would recommend that he go to a Supermax prison where he would spend 23 hours of the day alone in his cell and have one hour of exercise, alone. Some may consider that punishment to be too extreme and cruel, but I'm sure that some would agree with it. There can also be arrangements such as for those in protective custody -- such as depicted in The Valachi Papers (1972) where Joe Valachi had been marked for assassination after having testified against the mob so he stayed in a private cell with a kitchen and other creature comforts since there was nowhere that he would be safe.But another solution that has me curious is inspired by suggestions of what to do about Gen. Michael Flynn (ret.). One suggestion is that he be recalled to active duty and undergo a court martial which would result in a less-than-honorable discharge that would disqualify him for retirement benefits.This is my main legal question: are there any provisions for stripping an ex-President of his retirement benefits? If Trump lost his retirement benefits, that should include Secret Service protection, I would assume. There is no legal precedence that I am aware of, but are there nonetheless laws or regulations that would apply?For example, the Secret Service has regulations and policies governing its operations, jurisdiction, etc. Might those regulations or policies determine who is entitled to protection, or even specify what would disqualify a subject from receiving protection services?Does anybody know about these matters?

I'm going to leave this to the judges. I don't know, but I would guess that congress could legislate that. This would be entirely appropriate, given what he did the Andrew McCabe. However, I don't expect that to happen.

If he’s jailed he’ll be sent to a low-security prison anyway. There won’t be much threat from the other prisoners.

Dont get your hopes up He will nearly walk

No. This has never been contemplated in our history. There is nothing in the Constitution that talks about post-Presidency. The applicable laws are the Former Presidents Act of 1958 and The Former Presidents Protection Act of 2012. Congress can easily make a law limiting the protection of convicted ex-Presidents and will probably see the need to.
Former Presidents Act - Wikipedia

There are crazies everywhere that will want the fame. He will have to be isolated. He will have to be at a supermax because of the security risk and the fact that he will continue to be a huge intelligence risk. More than a couple countries will want to either reward him or silence him.

Why? What is the basis for this conclusion?

So there is a specific law involved. Next step would be to test that law in court. I don't foresee that challenge being made. Maybe unless it conflicts with laws regulating the Secret Service.Another issue that bothers me is how to handle Trump's funeral. He will die eventually, as we all will.One of the first things that an incoming President does is to make plans for his funeral. Remember how he kept pushing for a huge military parade patterned after what he had seen in France and probably also inspired by the military parades in Red Square. He really wanted his tanks and flyovers; I think he even wanted to wear a gaudy uniform.How will we be able to prevent that travesty?

Just a hunch. Of course I'm likely wrong. I don't see him being shut down, however.

To this point in time Trump has been charged with 34 felony counts of falsification of business records made in an attempt to hide the fact that monies were paid to Storm Daniels for her silence about an alleged sexual affair. I'm no lawyer, so I'll just guess that possible outcomes are a plea deal, or a trial with possible verdicts ranging from not guilty to a hung jury to guilty. Sentencing guidelines for a guilty verdict range from probation and no jail time all the up to four years in jail.The wide range of possible outcomes might mean a similarly wide range of probabilities for convictions. Yes, if Trump went to prison he would have an SS detail, but the prison would be one of those white collar minimum security prisons also referred to as camps or Club Fed. Looks like not. The Former Presidents Act says that benefits provided to former presidents are subject to these conditions:

• who shall have held the office of President of the United States of America;
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• whose service in such office shall have terminated other than by removal pursuant to section 4 of article II of the Constitution of the United States of America; and
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• who does not then currently hold such office.

To add "shall not have been convicted of a felony after leaving office" would require an act of Congress.--Percy

True.And I would assume that there must be a basic legal principle (complete with a Latin term) that one cannot be tried for violating a law or an amendment to a law before that law/amendment had come into effect. Otherwise, we would see legislatures creating retroactive laws in order to target and punish someone they don't like[/i]. The same or related principle would uphold convictions for violation of a law before that law was reversed (eg, convictions for possession of marijuana laws that have since been eliminated) such that expunging of those convictions require explicit legal action.Looks like yet another case of Trump's actions leading to laws against future actions instead of dealing with Trump. For his federal crimes, yes, but those 34 felony counts you cite are under state law, so conviction and sentence of those counts would be under New York law, not under federal law. Indictment, conviction, and sentencing for violating Georgia state law would place him under the Georgia state corrections system. It would take a federal conviction to land him in "Club Fed" and not on a deep south chain gang (yeah, I know that he would be deemed too old and infirm for most hard labor).Of course, he would not be the first to be convicted under both state and federal laws, so there should be well established case law for determining whether he would go to a state or federal prison. I would assume that federal prison would be chosen over state. In that case, if he's convicted under state law first, he might be motivated to plead guilty on the federal charges (yes, his ego would never allow him to make a smart move).And conviction for espionage and seditious conspiracy or insurrection should be considered too grave to warrant such leniency as going to Club Fed and not to a higher-security prison like Leavenworth.And even though Trump's opinion is that traitors should be executed, that will not happen in this case. Which is just as good, since his mere presence would forever sully the name of the ship whose yardarm was used.

You're right. New York State does have a minimum security prison, the Queensboro Correctional Facility. If it somehow happens that Trump gets convicted and sentenced to prison, which seems an unbelievable possibility given his lifetime of being just too slippery, wherever he's housed might require modifications for security purposes.Another possible trial outcome that just occurred to me is being sentenced to prison time but having the sentence suspended. Usually conditions are attached.--Percy

Apparently, Trump has been indicted on 7 counts in the U.S. Southern District of Florida. It's a good thing he has a gold toilet because he's shitting gold bricks right now and I bet he's making everyone anywhere near him really miserable. The first time this lifelong criminal has ever been held accountable for his dishonorable conduct, but I suspect there's a lot more to come! The presidency cannot be a license to commit crimes without consequences, no one is above the law.

The indictment is sealed, so we won't know exactly what he is being charged with until his arraignment on Tuesday. Until then, all we can do is to speculate based on everything that has entered into the public record.Listening to MSNBC on the radio on my way home from dance class (I have Sirius XM; that would have been early in "Last Word"), I heard someone talking about Trump's legal team. The main point being made was that for a case like this Trump would need the best legal team with the best criminal defense lawyers, but instead we're seeing D-list lawyers.Now for my opinion not based on that commentary.I feel that Trump will be very hard-pressed to find proper legal defense. He has burned through all the good lawyers (from my limited personal perspective), not paying them, turning them into accomplices, endangering their legal careers (MAGA stands for "Making Attorneys Get Attorneys"), and proving himself to be the singularly worst client imaginable. For every legal argument and defense narrative they try to devise, Trump just goes out in public media and blows up his own possible defenses. He's his own best witness for the prosecution and a nightmare for his defense team.No good lawyer would want to have anything to do with him. A professional challenge is one thing, but cutting your own throat is entirely different. I think that Trump has eliminated most of his options.As I recall from a couple/few years ago, Trump needed a high-power lawyer. It was difficult, but he found one. The lawyer required that Trump pay him for his services in full and up front. That lawyer knew Trump's record for not paying. As I recall, that lawyer left Trump's case early on. The main thing that I remember was the lawyer's demand for payment in full up front, not trusting Trump to pay a submitted bill. My son just finished his second year of law school. He had voted for Trump in 2016 -- I don't know about after that because we avoid politics.When I see him (he's East Coast, I'm West Coast), I want to warn him against ever going to work for Trump. My son will not be able to afford the attorney's fees.

I'd have more concern for his soul than his finances.--Percy