- 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, because if I'm not in court or
on a Zoom call with a judge, I'm often wearing Mack Weldon. I've tried their polos,
their T-shirts, their shorts, and of course their
world-famous boxer-briefs. And if you're watching this channel, you're an adult, and you
probably deserve to have nice boxer-briefs, and I can tell you, it makes a world of difference. I've ordered Mack Weldon
many times with my own money because it looks great,
it's incredibly comfortable, and it's great for whether
you're just lounging around, or engaging in sporting activity. Engage, that's such a
lawyerly thing to say. I mean playing sports. I usually order multiple
sizes, so I can try them on, and return the ones that don't fit, and keep the ones that fit perfectly. Now, if you would like to try Mack Weldon, you can get 20% off first order by just going to
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legaleagle at checkout. Clicking on that link in the description really helps out this channel. 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
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and I'll see you in court.
That would be ironic as fuck if we had to serve him eviction papers.
To whoever ends up throwing him in the back of a paddywagon: please don't be too nice.
I get what he's saying but I have a weird itch on my back about leaving everything to the secret service and military. Def hope i'm wrong.
ugh he's so hot
I get this, but, “no, there’s no way! The military has a code of conduct and chain of command that means they can’t dabble in domestic affairs!”
I mean.
Sure.
And there are laws against elections tampering, too, but that hasn’t stopped the guy.
I know Biden has his own group who plans the inauguration event, but... does holding an inauguration event require white house approval?
Damn, strong dom vibe
thank you law daddy
I would love to see Chump taken out in a straightjacket.