Special Counsel Jack Smith recently destroyed former President Donald Trump’s fantasy that President Joe Biden tried to assassinate him with the FBI in a blistering filing that revealed new facts via Mediaite.
It has been noted that the Right-wing hysteria has reached a fever pitch over a false claim that the FBI raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort was actually an assassination attempt.
The basis for the claim is standard language in the raid’s operation order that stated agents “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.”
It has been noted that Trump has been fundraising on the increasingly fantastical scenario, which originated from a filing by Trump attorneys Todd Blanche and Chris Kise that contains a key misquote of the guidance in the operation order.
In a new filing demanding Trump be gagged from making such statements, Smith knocked down the lie point-by-point, citing that key misquote and revealed that Trump and his team have had that operation order for almost a year, as well as the fact that Trump’s team and the Secret Service coordinated with the FBI before and during the raid:
As explained in more detail in other filings, see, e.g., ECF No. 567 at 1-5, the Government applied for a warrant to conduct a search of Mar-a-Lago for documents with classification markings, and a United States Magistrate Judge in this district granted the application and issued the warrant on August 5, 2022. The Magistrate Judge found probable cause that evidence of three crimes—willful retention of national defense information (18 U.S.C. § 793), concealment or removal of government records (18 U.S.C. § 2071), and obstruction of a federal investigation (18 U.S.C. § 1519)—would be found at Mar-a-Lago.
In preparation for the execution of the search warrant, the FBI created a Law Enforcement Operations Order, using an FD-888 form, as is typical in every case. See ECF No. 566-3 (“Operations Form”). The FBI planned to execute the search warrant as unobtrusively as possible, communicating and coordinating with Trump’s representatives throughout the time they were at his premises. See id. at 9-11.
The FBI chose a date—August 8, 2022—during Mar-a-Lago’s offseason when neither Trump nor his family would be in Florida. Under the plan that the FBI prepared, prosecutors and agents would “contact [Trump’s] retained counsel” before the warrant was executed, “to notify him of the search warrant and request collaboration and assistance.” Id.
The FBI would then coordinate with the U.S. Secret Service and, if necessary, with Mar-a-Lago guest services, “to ensure a fulsome understanding of spaces occupied as designated in the search warrant.” Id. at 9; see also id. at 11 (section on “Coordinating Instructions,” listing plans to coordinate with “USSS and other LE Agencies” and “MAL Security and Staff (execution occurs during off-season date range)”).
In the section of the Operations Form addressing contingencies, the FBI noted that if, contrary to expectations, Trump and the Secret Service were to arrive at Mara-Lago while the search warrant was being executed, FBI management would be prepared to “engage with” points of contact with the Secret Service “per existing liaison relationships.” Id. at 12.
FBI policy requires that special agents “must be armed when on official business,” unless “dictated by operational necessity,” and are “encouraged to be armed at all times.” See FBI Firearms Policy Guide 7 (June 22, 2017).2
In keeping with that policy, the Operations Form provided that the FBI agents who conducted the search would carry “Standard Issue Weapon[s]” and be attired in “[b]usiness casual with unmarked polo or collared shirts and law enforcement equipment concealed.” Id. at 12. The Operations Form also included a section—again, standard in every case—entitled “Policy Statement Use of Deadly Force (7/19/2022).” Id. at 11 (capitalization altered).
That section stated, among other things, that “[l]aw 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.” Id. The policy statement further provides that “[o]fficers should seek to gain voluntary compliance before using force if feasible and if doing so would not increase the danger to the officer or others.” Id. This language repeated general FBI policy for use of deadly force. See, e.g., https://www.fbi.gov/about/faqs/what-is-the-fbis-policyon-the-use-of-deadly-force-by-its-special-agents (“FBI special agents may use deadly force only when necessary—when the agent has a reasonable belief that the subject of such force poses an imminent danger of death or serious physical injury to the agent or another person.”).
The FBI executed the warrant as planned on August 8, 2022. See ECF No. 566-3 at 24. “Prior to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) team’s entry onto the [Mar-a-Lago] premises, FBI leadership informed and coordinated with local United States Secret Service (USSS) leadership.” Id. And “[l]ocal USSS facilitated entry onto the premises, provided escort and access to various locations within, and posted USSS personnel in locations where the FBI team conducted searches.” Id.
The FBI also contacted Trump’s attorney before beginning the search of the premises. Id. As anticipated, neither Trump nor any of his family members were present at the time of the search. At no point were any weapons drawn. After the grand jury issued the indictment in this case, the Government produced the warrant and the Operations Form to Trump and the other defendants in discovery. There was nothing unusual about the use of an Operations Form containing the Department’s policy statement on the use of deadly force. To the contrary, the same form, containing the same policy statement, is regularly used in searches throughout the country.
On February 22, 2024, Trump filed under seal a motion to suppress evidence obtained through the search of Mar-a-Lago. See ECF No. 566. In setting forth what he described as the relevant facts, Trump stated that the Operations Form “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 [sic] . . . .’” Id. at 4.
Although Trump included the warrant and Operations Form as exhibits to his motion, the motion misquoted the Operations Form by omitting the crucial word “only” before “when necessary,” without any ellipsis reflecting the omission. The motion also left out language explaining that deadly force is necessary only “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.” Compare ECF No. 566-3 at 11 with ECF No. 566 at 6.
Notwithstanding the misleading characterization of the use-of-force provision when describing the search, the motion did not seek suppression based on the policy, claim that the agents had acted inappropriately in following that standard protocol, or otherwise rely on the policy as part of the argument. See ECF No. 566 at 12-13.
On May 21, 2024, Trump filed a redacted version of his suppression motion and exhibits on the public docket. See ECF No. 566. The next day, Trump publicly claimed that he was just “shown Reports that Crooked Joe Biden’s DOJ, in their illegal and UnConstitutional Raid of Mara-Lago, AUTHORIZED THE FBI TO USE DEADLY (LETHAL) FORCE.” Exhibit 1.
Trump also sent an email stating that the government “WAS AUTHORIZED TO SHOOT ME,” was “just itching to do the unthinkable,” and was “locked & loaded ready to take me out & put my family in danger.” Exhibit 2.
Trump also publicly claimed that, “[s]hockingly,” the Department of Justice “authorized the use of ‘deadly force’ in their Illegal, UnConstitutional, and Un-American RAID of Mar-a-Lago, and that would include against our Great Secret Service, who they thought might be ‘in the line of fire.’” Exhibit 3.
Predictably and as he certainly intended, others have amplified Trump’s misleading statements, falsely characterizing the inclusion of the entirely standard use of force policy as an effort to “assassinate” Trump.
