(NewsNation) — If Donald Trump is convicted at his criminal trial in Manhattan and sentenced to prison time, the U.S. Secret Service faces an unprecedented challenge — protecting a former president behind bars.
By law, the agency must guard Trump around the clock. Even before opening statements, the Secret Service began preparing for the extraordinary possibility of a former president incarcerated.
Prosecutors asked the judge to warn Trump that witness intimidation could land him in jail before a verdict. The judge is more likely to issue a warning or fine than jail the 77-year-old before trial.
Last week, federal, state and city agencies met briefly about handling Trump in a courthouse holding cell if temporarily jailed for contempt, two people familiar with the matter said, The New York Times reported.
But incarcerating a convicted former president long-term has yet to be directly addressed, a dozen current and former officials told The Associated Press. They note appeals could delay sentencing for months, and prison time is unlikely.
Keeping Trump separate from other inmates and screening his food and items would be required. A rotating Secret Service detail would work 24/7, officials said. While firearms are banned in prisons, the agents would be armed.
Secret Service protections are not just afforded to current and former presidents but also to other high-ranking officials and immediate family members of protectees.
But Trump is the only protectee facing felony charges — 91 various felony charges across four state and federal cases.
Former corrections officials identified closed New York prisons or jails that could house Trump and his protective detail, according to The New York Times.
The former chair of the now-disbanded Jan. 6 committee introduced a bill Friday that would strip Secret Service protection of any former executive convicted of a felony.
Dubbed the “Denying Infinite Security and Government Resources Allocated toward Convicted and Extremely Dishonorable (DISGRACED) Former Protectees Act,” the legislation from Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., would nix the lifelong protection given to former presidents if they are convicted and sentenced for a felony that carries a year or more in prison time.
Trump, the presumptive 2024 Republican nominee, faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal. Potential sentences range from probation to four years in prison, though prison for a first-time offender of Trump’s age would be extreme.
If convicted and elected president again, Trump could not self-pardon because the case was brought by New York State.
NewsNation affiliate The Hill contributed to this report.