How Secret Service Would Handle Trump's Arrest, According to Former Agent

A former Secret Service agent has described the "interesting" role that the agency could play in New York if Donald Trump is arraigned in connection to the Stormy Daniels hush money payment investigation.

Jonathan Wackrow, who is now global head of security for Teneo, appeared on CNN earlier this week to discuss the strongly rumored upcoming grand jury indictment and arrest of the former president.

Trump himself claimed he would be arrested on Tuesday as part of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's probe, and called for his supporters to protest. This uncorroborated arrest claim turned out not to be the case, with the grand jury set to reconvene next week.

Barricades were placed outside the Manhattan Criminal Court on Monday as a precaution following Trump's calls for protests. The NYPD is also preparing for how to respond if Trump were to hand himself in to the authorities in response to what would be a historic indictment.

Discussing what the Secret Service's role would be in such circumstances, Wackrow said the agency wouldn't be involved in managing the surrounding area, as that would fall under NYPD and FBI jurisdiction, and instead it would focus solely on protecting the former president as he enters the court.

"The Secret Service play an interesting role," he said. "Usually we see the Secret Service as a coordinating entity. They're the ones that usually come up with these security plans for rallies and speeches and any type of political events surrounding either sitting or former presidents."

"But in this case, they're not. They are in a protective mode. They are viewing this as really an administrative movement where they have to protect Donald Trump from point A to point B, let him do his business before the court, and leave.

"They are not playing that active role that we typically see them in. They're not providing the magnetometers at the courthouse, they're not providing the perimeter security that we typically see," Wackrow added.

"Now, are they working with law enforcement partners? The answer is yes, they are going to be informed, but they are not the controlling entity."

Prosecutors are looking into whether a $130,000 sum Trump allegedly arranged for his former attorney Michael Cohen to pay Daniels to keep an alleged affair the adult film star and the former president had secret ahead of the 2016 election amounted to a campaign violation.

Investigators are also examining if any records were falsified when Cohen was reimbursed for the money, which was listed in Trump Organization records as legal fees.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing and dismissed claims he had an affair with Daniels in 2006.

Truth Social Post

The former president has again alluded that violence could break out should he become the first U.S. president to be arrested while attacking Bragg and his investigation.

"What kind of person can charge another person, in this case a former President of the United States, who got more votes than any sitting President in history, and leading candidate (by far!) for the Republican Party nomination, with a Crime, when it is known by all that NO Crime has been committed, & also known that potential death & destruction in such a false charge could be catastrophic for our Country?" Trump wrote on Truth Social in the early hours of Friday morning.

In a separate Truth Social post on Thursday, Trump suggested that there could be "years of hatred, chaos, and turmoil" if he is arrested under the hush money probe.

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office has been contacted for comment via email.