Former President Donald Trump bashed President Joe Biden over his administration’s authorization of the Mar-a-Lago raid that recently unsealed court filings revealed authorized deadly force.
Records unsealed on Tuesday revealed that the FBI was prepared to use deadly force if necessary in its August 2022 raid of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago compound. In a post on Truth Social, Trump held it up as proof that Biden was mentally unfit for office and a danger to the United States.
“WOW! I just came out of the Biden Witch Hunt Trial in Manhattan, the ‘Icebox,’ and was shown Reports that Crooked Joe Biden’s DOJ, in their Illegal and UnConstitutional Raid of Mar-a-Lago, AUTHORIZED THE FBI TO USE DEADLY (LETHAL) FORCE,” Trump said. “NOW WE KNOW, FOR SURE, THAT JOE BIDEN IS A SERIOUS THREAT TO DEMOCRACY. HE IS MENTALLY UNFIT TO HOLD OFFICE — 25TH AMENDMENT!”
In a court filing from Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche, he outlined the order to raid Trump’s compound.
“The Order contained a ‘Policy Statement’ regarding ‘Use Of Deadly Force,’ which stated, for example, ‘Law enforcement officers of the Department of Justice may use deadly force when necessary,” he wrote. “The agents planned to bring ‘Standard Issue Weapon[s],’ ‘Ammo,’ ‘Handcuffs,’ and
‘medium and large sized bolt cutters,’ but they were instructed to wear ‘unmarked polo or collared
shirts’ and to keep ‘law enforcement equipment concealed.’”
The FBI said in a statement provided to the Washington Examiner that it included a “standard policy statement” in the search warrant documents of Trump’s residence.
“The FBI followed standard protocol in this search as we do for all search warrants, which includes a standard policy statement limiting the use of deadly force. No one ordered additional steps to be taken and there was no departure from the norm in this matter,” the agency said.
The remarks reflect those of former FBI Washington Field Office head Steven D’Antuono, who testified before Congress in June.
“It wasn’t even a show of force, right, because we were all in agreement. We didn’t do a show of force. … I was adamant about that, and that was something that we agreed on … the FBI agreed on,” he said. “No raid jackets. … We made sure we interacted with the Secret Service to make sure we could get into Mar-a-Lago with no issues.
“We’re not banging down any doors. We weren’t bringing any, like, FBI vehicles. Everything that was reported about helicopters and a hundred people descending on, like a Die Hard movie, was completely untrue,” he added. “That is not how we played it.”
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The Washington Examiner reached out to the White House for comment, as well as House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH).
The FBI’s guidelines on the use of deadly force were updated in June 2022, providing strict guidelines for when such force is authorized.
Ashley Oliver contributed to this report.
