Former President Donald Trump criticized President Joe Biden regarding the administration’s authorization of the Mar-a-Lago raid, recently unsealed court documents disclosed that deadly force was authorized during the operation.
Unsealed records on Tuesday showed that during the FBI’s August 2022 raid of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, agents were ready to utilize deadly force if necessary. In a Truth Social post, Trump highlighted this as evidence of Biden being mentally unfit for office and a menace 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 document by Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche, he detailed the order to raid Trump’s property.
“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.’”
In a statement to Truth Voices, the FBI noted that it included a “standard policy statement” in the search warrant documents for 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 comments echo 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.”
Truth Voices 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 criteria for when such force is authorized.
Ashley Oliver contributed to this report.
