(LifeSiteNews) — Recently unsealed court documents indicate U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland authorized FBI agents to use “deadly force” in their raid of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in 2022.
The stunning revelation was made public earlier this week during discovery in special counsel Jack Smith’s political witch hunt against the former president for his alleged mishandling of classified documents.
Trump, who has been stuck in a New York courtroom trying to clear his name in a lawsuit brought forth by a George Soros-backed attorney general over past business practices, slammed Joe Biden on Truth Social in response.
“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 wrote.
“NOW WE KNOW, FOR SURE, THAT JOE BIDEN IS A SERIOUS THREAT TO DEMOCRACY. HE IS MENTALLY UNFIT TO HOLD OFFICE — 25TH AMENDMENT!” he added.
Trump allies in Congress, the media, and his re-election campaign were equally up in arms.
“I’ve been a part of executing multiple search warrants. Nothing about this was standard. It was a siege by land, by sea, by air,” Pam Bondi, former Florida Attorney General and Trump surrogate, told Fox News.
GOP Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor-Greene posted on X that she believes “the Biden DOJ and FBI were planning to assassinate President Trump.”
I made sure that he knew.
The Biden DOJ and FBI were planning to assassinate Pres Trump and gave the green light.
Does everyone get it yet???!!!!
What are Republicans going to do about it?
I tried to oust our Speaker who funded Biden’s DOJ AND FBI, but Democrats stopped it. https://t.co/XSTevEQsNI pic.twitter.com/o0lUjcEdix
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) May 21, 2024
The FBI has since issued a statement alleging that the use of deadly force is “standard procedure” in all of their raids.
“Every FBI operations order contains a reminder of FBI deadly force policy. Even for a search warrant,” former FBI Assistant Director of Counterintelligence Frank Figliuzzi shared on X.
If true, then the agency’s storming of the house of pro-life father of seven, Mark Houck, was also subject to the use of deadly force.
At present, the Justice Departments website states that “Law enforcement officers and correctional 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.”
The policy was last updated in July 2022.
The raid on Trump’s property took place in August 2022. It was approved by federal judge Bruce Reinhart, who in the 2000s left his job as an assistant U.S. attorney to represent accomplices in Jeffrey Epstein’s 2008 sex trafficking case.
Trump’s son, Eric, told Fox News at the time of the raid that “my father has worked so collaboratively with (the federal government) for months. In fact, the lawyer that’s been working on this was totally shocked.”
The court documents further reveal that a paramedic was brought along in case emergency care was required. They also show that the more than 30 agents who stormed the property were equipped with bolt cutters, firearms, handcuffs, and other items.
Upon entering, they raided former First Lady Melania Trump’s room, Donald Trump’s personal safe, and Barron Trump’s living quarters, among other places. No one in the Trump family was at Mar-a-Lago at the time.
Investigative reporter Julie Kelly described the situation as “mind blowing.”
“Agents were also prepared to go door to door to terrorize Mar-a-Lago guests if staff refused to turn over room keys,” she stated on her Substack page.
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
Kelly has previously written for right-leaning websites American Greatness and The Federalist, among others.
Conservative pundit Mollie Hemmingway, also of The Federalist, drew attention to The Washington Post’s report that two senior FBI agents who were involved in the raid viewed it as “too combative” and that they wanted to “seek Trump’s permission to search his property” instead.
REMINDER: Even senior FBI agents thought the plan from Biden’s AG to use heavily armed agents to raid Mar-A-Lago was absolutely insane. pic.twitter.com/JNdY1XQezL
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) May 22, 2024
Hemmingway published a satirical post on X noting the absurdity of the depths the Biden administration has sunk to in order to persecute Trump.
“It is standard policy to authorize shooting our Republican political opponent when we raid his home for no good reason after running the Russia collusion hoax and other scams.” — Biden DOJ
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) May 22, 2024
“‘It is standard policy to authorize shooting our Republican political opponent when we raid his home for no good reason after running the Russia collusion hoax and other scams.’— Biden DOJ,” she said.
Former Trump adviser Roger Stone posted on X images from the FBI’s raid on his own Florida residence in 2019.
They authorized the use of deadly force when they raided Mar-A-Lago ? FBI raiding my home on Jan 25, 2019 pic.twitter.com/iU8BY1w2dl
— Roger Stone (@RogerJStoneJr) May 22, 2024
LifeSite will update this developing story as needed …