The FBI carried authorization to use “deadly force” against former President Donald Trump during the Mar-a-Lago raid for classified documents, as revealed in newly unsealed court documents shared on X by independent journalist Julie Kelly.
Attorney General Merrick Garland personally sanctioned the unprecedented raid on Trump’s Florida residence in the summer of 2022. This led to special counsel Jack Smith indicting Trump for purportedly mishandling classified information. In contrast, President Joe Biden, who also retained classified documents post-vice presidency, was not charged by his own Justice Department because prosecutors argued he would seem like “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory” to a jury.
A newly unsealed operations order exposed the FBI’s authority to deploy deadly force against the former president if deemed necessary, according to Kelly’s report.
“The FBI’s goal for the Mar-a-Lago raid was to seize ‘classified information, NDI [national defense information], and US Government records as outlined in [the] search warrant,’” states Trump’s legal filing.
“The Order included a ‘Policy Statement’ on the ‘Use Of Deadly Force,’ stating, for instance, ‘Law enforcement officers of the Department of Justice may use deadly force when necessary …’. Agents were to bring ‘Standard Issue Weapon[s],’ ‘Ammo,’ ‘Handcuffs,’ and ‘medium and large-sized bolt cutters,’ with instructions to wear ‘unmarked polo or collared shirts’ and keep ‘law enforcement equipment concealed.’”
Tons of new unsealed filings on classified docs case–I will try to post as much as I can (there goes the workout) but this is mind-blowing.
FBI authorized the use of deadly force at Mar-a-Lago pic.twitter.com/f0lR6UifAH
— Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 (@julie_kelly2) May 21, 2024
The FBI also issued “coordinating instructions” on using deadly force.
Here is the use of deadly force instructions attached to the FBI’s operational instructions.
Head of Washington FBI field office when this was executed: Steven D’Antuono.
Recall who authorized the raid: Merrick Garland
The FBI risked the lives of Donald Trump, his family, his… pic.twitter.com/XHHLDYqWgV
— Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 (@julie_kelly2) May 21, 2024
Kelly’s posted filing screenshots suggest agents were ready to confront Trump and his Secret Service agents if necessary.
“Should [former President of the United States] arrive at [Mar-a-Lago], FBI MM EM and OSCs will be prepared to engage with FPOTUS and USSS Security Team,” read a “Contingencies” list from the filing. (MM might refer to the Miami FBI office, and OSC likely refers to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office.) The list also included directives if the Secret Service were to “provide resistance or interfere with FBI timeline or accesses.”
The filings additionally comprised exhibits showing agents searched Melania and Barron Trump’s rooms and were ready to search Mar-a-Lago door-to-door “to determine occupation status” of each room if staff didn’t supply “a list of occupied guest rooms.”
