- Thanks to Mack Weldon for keeping Legal Eagle in the air,
and helping me look fly.
Well, because this is clearly the darkest timeline,
many have asked, and now I must answer the question,
what if the president refuses to leave the White House?
(dramatic music)
(sirens wail)
- You'll never take me alive, coppers!
- Get him! (sirens wail)
(gunshots blast) (sirens wail)
(dramatic music)
- Hey, Legal Eagles, it's time to think like a lawyer,
and the Secret Service.
As I discussed in a recent video,
Joe Biden is now the clear winner of the 2020 election,
and Donald Trump's lawsuits are not going to be enough
to change that result.
After it looked obvious that President Trump
could not get enough votes to be reelected,
the media started asking whether President Trump
would make a concession speech.
President Trump did not win enough votes
to win the election, but he has so far refused
to concede his loss.
And although no president has ever refused to leave office,
other elected officials in the US have thrown tantrums
after losing an election.
In 1874, Texas Governor Edmund Davis locked himself
in the basement of the state capitol building
after losing to Richard Coke.
Like Trump, Davis claimed that
there had been voter fraud,
and the state supreme court,
with three judges appointed by Davis, ruled in his favor,
but Coke was still inaugurated.
Coke then arrived at the state capitol
with the sheriff's posse.
But Davis appealed to fellow Republican,
President Ulysses S. Grant, for federal troops,
but Grant refused.
Davis left three days later.
In 1946, there was a standoff in Georgia
known as the three governors crisis.
After the governor elect died before taking office,
the outgoing governor thought he had a right to stay.
The son of the governor elect thought
he should inherit the office,
and the lieutenant governor elect believed
that he was now governor.
Bizarrely, the state assembly voted for the son
to inherit the office.
The two other men were still in the building,
but that crisis ended when the governor elect's son
changed the locks.
But if that happens this year,
I'll finally get to collaborate with the LockPickingLawyer.
Now, President Trump hasn't locked himself in the bathroom
yet, but he is refusing to concede that he lost.
Normally, the loser would have given
a public concession speech by now.
That's what Jimmy Carter did
when Ronald Reagan defeated him in 1980,
and what George H.W. Bush did in 1992,
when he lost his reelection bid to Bill Clinton.
But what is a concession speech?
Well, it's a public acknowledgement by the loser
of the presidential race that he or she
has lost the election.
This is not a legal requirement,
but it is an important norm that ensures
the peaceful transfer of power,
especially since the incumbent commands, you know,
the whole military until the next president takes office.
The concession speech generally allows
the rest of the steps required to confirm
the election results to move forward.
After the loser concedes,
lots of things happen behind-the-scenes.
This triggers the release of millions of federal dollars
to the transition team, along with access to office space,
and necessary equipment, like computers and money.
Under the 2015 Presidential Transitions Improvement Act,
which amended the 1963 Presidential Transition Act,
the president must establish
a White House coordinating committee,
and council of agency transition directors
six months prior to the election.
Typically, the administrator
of the General Services Administration, or GSA,
signs a letter when the winner of the race
is, quote, "apparent."
This acts as the federal government's formal declaration
that the presidential race is over and a winner has emerged.
Although every agency including the GSA
has detailed transition plans as required by law,
"The Washington Post" has reported that
the plans won't move forward until a winner
is declared by the GSA.
This could mean a number of different things,
that the transition won't happen until Trump gives up,
or that everyone is waiting for the Supreme Court
to declare a winner.
But that's kind of not how this happens.
In its guidance in April on how agencies should be
preparing, the Office of Management and Budget noted
that the committee would meet on May 27th.
However, the GSA refused to publish
the full minutes of this meeting.
We now know that Emily Murphy,
the President Trump-appointed administrator
of the General Services Administration,
is refusing to sign a letter that
immediately allows the transfer of power
from one administration to the next.
When "The Washington Post" asked her why,
her spokesperson said, quote,
"An ascertainment has not yet been made,
"and its administrator will continue to abide by,
"and fulfill all requirements under the law."
What these two facts, the OMB censoring
the transition meeting notes,
and Murphy refusing to acknowledge the reality
of President Trump's loss, what do those tell us?
At a minimum, the Trump team has no intention of cooperating
with the peaceful transition of power,
and both President Trump and members of his cabinet
have hinted that they are not going to comply
with a peaceful transition,
with in particular Mike Pompeo, the Secretary of State,
saying that-
- There will be a smooth transition
to a second Trump administration.
- But the stakes of a delayed transition
are actually higher than one might think.
The bipartisan 9/11 Commission found that
the delayed transition in 2000
between the Clinton and Bush administrations
actually made the 9/11 attacks more likely,
because it hampered the incoming W. Bush administration
from focusing on the looming Al-Qaeda threat from day one.
The delayed transition in 2020 might undermine efforts
to distribute a COVID-19 vaccine.
As the US hits an all time high
for positive coronavirus tests,
the Trump COVID task force has stopped meeting,
and its chair, Mike Pence, is trying to go on vacation.
But on top of screwing up the transition,
there's all kinds of stuff that
a nefarious squatting president could do on the way out.
This probably deserves its own video,
but those steps could include firing not only
political appointees who the president doesn't like,
but also career staff to just gum up the works.
We've seen that already by President Trump firing
Defense Secretary Mark Esper,
and the potential firings of FBI Director Chris Wray,
and CIA Director Gina Haspel.
The president has also named Michael Ellis
as NSA General Counsel in these waning months,
and you'll remember that name if you've watched my video
on how the White House conducted
a political motivated review of John Bolton's book.
Ellis was the political operative,
who took a hatchet to it,
and prevented it from being published.
These could be chaos moves, or attempts to install
true believers to take affirmative action
benefiting President Trump.
The president could pardon everyone in his orbit,
including his family, his friends, his co-conspirators,
and maybe even himself,
and that's not even with respect
to underlying investigations themselves.
As national security analyst Asha Rangappa points out,
the Trump DOJ could induce the Office of Legal Counsel
to adopt all kinds of formal positions
to justify the president's prior acts.
And to the extent there are actually open investigations
into President Trump personally and his family,
the Department of Justice could paper over these files,
adding memos that justify closing of the cases,
or saying that the cases were never brought
in good faith in the first place,
and calling into doubt the evidence
that's in those investigatory files.
And then, of course, there are the files themselves.
While destroying records that have administrative,
historical, informational, or evidentiary value
under the Presidential Records Act is usually illegal,
it's probably a good idea to keep an eye out
for gray smoke coming out of the White House chimneys
in the coming days.
But all of that is during the transitional period.
What if Donald Trump remains in denial about the election,
and continues barking orders at the military,
and holds onto the football?
Well, Joe Biden is scheduled to be sworn in as president
at noon on January 20th, 2021.
So as of that date, what happens if President Trump
is still throwing a tantrum, and won't leave?
What if he is a trespasser on the White House grounds?
Well, let's start with the Secret Service.
The president loses all constitutional authority
when his term ends on January 20th, 2021.
At this time, he no longer commands the armed forces,
or the Secret Service.
Both of those entities will be commanded by Joe Biden.
When President Biden arrives at the White House
after his inauguration, he'll be accompanied by moving vans
and the US Secret Service.
The Secret Service is a law enforcement agency
within the Department of Homeland Security.
The Secret Service has two roles.
They investigate counterfeiting and other federal crimes,
and they protect national leaders and their families,
as well as foreign dignitaries.
But what happens if a president the Secret Service
has sworn to protect decides that he's still president,
and won't leave the White House grounds?
Under the Former Presidents Act,
the Secret Service provides lifetime protection
to former presidents and their families.
President Trump will be assigned
a Secret Service protection unit that takes over
after he is no longer president.
But that doesn't mean that President Trump
has legal authority over his post-presidential team.
The Secret Service is led by a director.
The current director is James Murray.
The director is appointed by,
and serves at the pleasure of the president,
and is not subject to Senate confirmation.
When Biden becomes president,
Murray reports to Biden, and not Trump.
If it came down to a battle
between President Biden's protective team
versus Trump's protective team,
well, it won't, because President Biden
and Director Murray would order
former President Trump's security detail to stand down.
But could some members of the Secret Service
decide to disobey Biden's orders, and fight for Trump?
I mean, theoretically,
but they'd be committing a felony.
Section 3056 d of Title 18 prohibits knowingly
and willfully obstructing, resisting,
or interfering with a federal law enforcement agent,
who is engaged protective functions.
And if former President Trump's security detail
was prosecuted under 18 USC 3056,
it's not even necessary to show that Trump's guys
used force against federal law enforcement agents.
Even blocking the entry to the White House grounds,
or the White House doors is considered
obstruction or resistance.
And of course, the law does authorize Secret Service agents
to arrest anyone engaging in activity,
which could nullify, or reduce the effectiveness
of security precautions taken by the Secret Service.
That means if former President Trump's Secret Service team
locks the doors to the Oval Office or bathroom,
they could be arrested,
and the government doesn't even need to prove
that this interference was forcible, or aggressive.
It's also a felony under 18 USC 111
to forcibly assault, resist, oppose, impede, intimidate,
or interfere with federal law enforcement officers,
including Secret Service agents,
in the performance of their duties.
People who work for Secret Service
are well-versed in these laws,
and many of them have served for decades.
It's highly unlikely that large numbers of them
would turn the White House into the Alamo.
(gunshot blasts)
And there are also other Secret Service support units
that could be called on to help oust
a squatting former President Trump.
The Secret Service's uniformed division
protects facilities and venues secured
for US Secret Service protectees,
including the White House complex,
and the vice president's residence at the Naval Observatory.
These are probably the people who'd be called on
to repel any threats to the White House,
or the vice president's residence.
So if President Trump asked the Proud Boys
to no longer stand by, but to actually engage,
these are probably the people that would act immediately.
And the Secret Service also has some specialized units,
which could be called upon to remove Trump and his allies.
The Emergency Response Team provides
a coordinated tactical response for the White House
and other protected facilities.
The Counter Sniper Team uses observation,
sighting equipment, and high-performance weapons
to provide a secure environment for protectees.
And if a Trump militia were on the scene,
those special units would coordinate a response.
And then there's also the Motorcade Support Unit,
providing motorcycle tactical support
for official movements of motorcades.
So President Biden would be safely escorted
to the White House premises,
even if an army of lifted Ford F-250 trucks
with giant, oversized flags showed up
to block President Biden's advance.
And frankly, I wouldn't mess around with the Secret Service.
They have plenty of firepower to back it up.
Agents and officers use the FN P90 submachine gun,
the nine millimeter H&K MP5,
a 12-gauge Remington shotgun, and 5.56 SR-16 QCB rifle.
They also have plenty of non-lethal options as well,
like a 16-inch expandable baton, and also pepper spray.
Now, to be clear, none of this is going to happen.
The worst case scenario is that a President Biden
would simply kindly ask former President Trump to leave,
and I'm sure that President Trump will have
plenty to do and plenty of places to go
when his term expires.
But if push came to shove,
the Secret Service would be capable
of perp walking former President Trump out,
and dumping him onto Pennsylvania Avenue,
if not straight into federal prison.
But there is one last wrinkle,
because the Secret Service are not the only guys with guns
in the White House.
What about the military?
Well, there's been lots of speculation about
whether Donald Trump could use the military
to keep himself in power.
This isn't likely.
The military follows a chain of command,
and when Joe Biden is sworn in,
he will be the commander in chief,
and President Trump loses all authority.
If President Trump makes any kind of order
after noon on January 20th, 2021,
the military will not follow those orders.
And it's also worth noting that America has laws
mandating political neutrality by members of the military.
The military is not supposed to dabble in domestic affairs.
The Uniform Code of Military Justice,
or UCMJ, is the code of conduct applicable
to members of the armed forces,
and certain other individuals closely associated
with the armed forces.
The UCMJ sets forth procedures
for trials by courts martial,
and other disciplinary actions to enforce these laws.
Now, it's important to note that the UCMJ does not apply
to the president.
But Article 88 of the UCMJ does make it a crime
for any officer in the armed forces to, quote,
"use contemptuous words against officials
"of any branch of the US government,
"or any state government."
The officer cannot make any derogatory statements
against the US president, and if a person does,
he or she could be court-martialed.
Yes, this is an impingement
on the officer's First Amendment rights,
but it's something that they knowingly give up
when they join the military.
Article 88 is one of many reasons you don't see
active duty military officers critiquing Donald Trump.
They are sworn to uphold political neutrality.
However, what if they're called upon
by a president to do something that's arguably illegal,
or given orders by an ex-president?
Well, the military is not supposed to obey
illegal unconstitutional orders.
Obviously, we hope we don't ever get to a point
where military officers have to decide
whether orders are illegal or not.
It's up to the military leadership to ensure
that all presidential orders are lawful.
But if Joe Biden is president,
then he is the commander in chief.
If President Trump tries to order the military
to do anything, then that is an illegal order.
And when it comes to presidents gone wild,
we have one close historical example to go by.
When Nixon's time was running out back in 1974,
many feared that he would lean on his good friend,
who just happened to be the commandant of the Marine Corps.
Now, the story is that Secretary of Defense
James Schlesinger was so worried about Nixon issuing
illegal orders that he told the Joint Chiefs of Staff
not to implement any direct orders from President Nixon
that was not relayed through Schlesinger.
Now, we don't know if this story is historically accurate.
Historians disagree about what actually happened,
but it does show that military leadership have given
lots of thought to what might happen
if a president started a meltdown.
And in fact, Mark Milley,
the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
said that the military would not be involved
in moderating or intervening any disputes.
- We do not take an oath to an individual.
No, we do not take an oath to a country,
a tribe, or religion.
We take an oath to the Constitution.
- In his view, it's Congress' job to figure out
what's happening and prevent it, not the military's.
Milley is correct that the Constitution is silent
on this exact scenario.
However, he's probably already thought about
what would happen if President Trump
wanted to remain in power.
In August, two retired army officers wrote an open letter
to Milley stating that if Trump is holed up
in the White House with armed supporters inside,
the military must defend the rightful president,
stating, quote, "In the constitutional crisis
"described above, your duty is to give unambiguous orders
"directing US military forces to support
"the constitutional transfer of power.
"Should you remain silent,
"you will be complicit in a coup d'etat.
"You were rightly criticized
"for your prior active complicity
"in the president's use of force
"against peaceful protestors in Lafayette Square.
"Your passive complicity in an extralegal seizure
"of political power would be far worse."
But whether it's the military or the Secret Service,
on January 20th, Donald Trump doesn't need to go home,
but he can't stay here.
And as Joe Biden put it,
"The United States government is perfectly capable
"of escorting trespassers out of the White House."
But if President Trump does stay past noon on January 20th,
he'll be trading his very poorly tailored suits and ties
for a matching orange jumpsuit.
In fact, speaking of ditching the suit,
now that the election is over,
I'm getting out of here,
in one of Mack Weldon's super comfortable polos.
Oh, wait, I can't leave because of COVID.
All right, well, I guess I'll just stay inside
wearing one of their warm V-neck sweaters,
and slim cut chinos instead,
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I'm often wearing Mack Weldon.
I've tried their polos, their T-shirts, their shorts,
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you're an adult, and you probably deserve to have
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I've ordered Mack Weldon many times with my own money
because it looks great, it's incredibly comfortable,
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Engage, that's such a lawyerly thing to say.
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So do you agree my analysis about
the ridiculous scenario of what would happen
if President Trump is a squatter in the White House?
If not, leave your objections in the comments,
and check out this playlist over here
with all of my other reactions
and news pieces about all the crazy stuff
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because it's all legal and crazy.
So click on this playlist, and I'll see you in court.