Judge Aileen Cannon on Tuesday unsealed several motions related to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s classified documents case against former President Donald Trump. One of the filings disclosed that the FBI, under the authorization of Attorney General Merrick Garland, permitted the use of deadly force during the August 2022 raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
The documents revealed that armed FBI agents were prepared to confront Trump if he had been present at Mar-a-Lago during the raid. “Should FPOTUS [Trump] arrive at MAL [Mar-a-Lago], FBI MM EM and OSCs will be prepared to engage with FPOTUS and USSS Security Team,” the filing stated. The FBI also had a medic on the scene and had identified a local trauma center for anyone who might have been injured during the raid.
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 use of deadly force was authorized under specific conditions. According to the document, “Law enforcement officers of the Department of Justice may use deadly force only when necessary, that is, when the officer has a reasonable belief that the subject of such force poses an imminent danger of death or serious physical injury to the officer or to another person.”
Oh my God
Armed FBI agents were preparing to confront Trump and even engage Secret Service if necessary.
They were going to go door to door to terrorize MAL guests and even pick the locks.
Gestapo pic.twitter.com/ViWahRIpTL
— Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 (@julie_kelly2) May 21, 2024
The raid on Mar-a-Lago occurred after President Joe Biden revoked Trump’s executive privilege, which opened the door for Trump to be subpoenaed and subsequently charged with federal crimes. Following the subpoena, federal agents retrieved some documents from Mar-a-Lago and instructed Trump to put an additional lock on the storage area. Two months later, the FBI conducted a full search of the estate without allowing Trump’s lawyers to be present.
In November 2022, Jack Smith was appointed as special counsel to investigate the documents stored at Trump’s Florida residence. By June 2023, Trump was indicted on 37 counts related to Smith’s investigation. These included 31 counts of willful retention of classified documents and six additional counts, including conspiracy to obstruct justice and making false statements.
Trump reacted to the revelation of the authorized use of deadly force on Truth Social, stating, “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. NOW WE KNOW, FOR SURE, THAT JOE BIDEN IS A SERIOUS THREAT TO DEMOCRACY. HE IS MENTALLY UNFIT TO HOLD OFFICE — 25TH AMENDMENT!”
This disclosure has further intensified the already heated political climate surrounding the investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents.