Fact Check: Trump Exaggerates FBI’s ‘Deadly Force’ Protocol In Mar-A-Lago Raid

Topline

Former President Donald Trump’s campaign sought to gin up sympathy, and donations, for his 2024 presidential bid by suggesting FBI agents who raided his Mar-a-Lago estate were prepared to kill him—exaggerating standard language used in search warrant instructions despite investigators reportedly taking steps to avoid conflict in the August 2022 raid.

An aerial view of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate on September 14, 2022. (Photo by … [+] Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

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Key Facts

Trump’s campaign sent a fundraising email Tuesday claiming “Joe Biden was locked & loaded ready to take me out & put my family in danger” when FBI agents raided his Palm Beach estate, while Trump also claimed on Truth Social that “Crooked Joe Biden’s DOJ, in their Illegal and UnConstitutional Raid of Mar-a-Lago, AUTHORIZED THE FBI TO USE DEADLY (LETHAL) FORCE.”

The allegations stem from standard search warrant instructions pertaining to the use of deadly force that were included in a motion to dismiss the classified documents case filed by Trump’s attorneys and unsealed Tuesday.

The FBI order included a “policy statement” on the use of deadly force that stated “law enforcement officers of the Department of Justice may use deadly force when necessary,” according to the filing, which also noted agents planned to bring “standard issue weapons . . . ammo . . . handcuffs” and bolt cutters, but were instructed to wear plainclothes and “keep law enforcement equipment concealed.”

The FBI disputed Trump’s interpretation of the “deadly force” instructions in a statement that said the agency “followed standard protocol” consistent with “all search warrants,” which include a policy statement “limiting the use of deadly force,” noting “no one ordered additional steps to be taken and there was no departure from the norm in this matter.”

Despite Trump’s claims, he was in New York during the August 2022 raid—a circumstance the FBI deliberately planned, among other steps to de-escalate potential confrontation, including notifying Secret Service agents ahead of its arrival and wearing “unmarked polo or collared shirts,” the Washington Post reported previously, citing four anonymous sources familiar with the deliberations.

The Justice Department also said it gave Trump multiple chances to turn over the documents voluntarily, but he instead allegedly took steps to deter the agency from recovering them, including by suggesting his lawyers tell the DOJ he didn’t have any classified documents in his possession and scheming with his co-defendants, personal assistant, Walt Nauta, and property manager Carlos DeOliveira, to move boxes of documents around the property and delete security footage.

Crucial Quote

“Wouldn’t it be better if we just told them we don’t have anything here?” Trump allegedly told one of his attorneys after the DOJ issued a subpoena for any classified documents he is accused of keeping in his possession after leaving office, according to the June indictment against him.

Tangent

The court filings unsealed Tuesday also include revelations that Trump’s attorneys discovered additional documents marked classified in Trump’s possession months after the FBI search, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell wrote in a 2023 opinion determining prosecutors could question Trump’s former attorney Evan Corcoran in the probe. A “mostly empty folder marked ‘Classified Evening Summary’” was found in Trump’s Mar-a-Lago bedroom, according to Howell, who wrote that other documents were allegedly found in an off-site office and storage facility. The judge issued the opinion in response to Trump’s request to dismiss the case on the grounds that the DOJ engaged in “prosecutorial misconduct” by defying his attorney-client privilege in interviewing Corcoran about Trump’s alleged efforts to obstruct the investigation. “Notably, no excuse is provided as to how the former president could miss the classified-marked documents found in his own bedroom at Mar-a-Lago,” Howell wrote.

Key Background

Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office charged Trump with 40 counts, including 32 Espionage Act violations, in two separate indictments filed in June last year. The Espionage Act counts pertain to individual documents Trump is charged with retaining in violation of the statute that prohibits willful retention of national defense information. Prosecutors claim investigators uncovered documents that risked national security secrets, including foreign countries’ nuclear capabilities, U.S. nuclear weapons and U.S. spying operations, during the 2022 raid. The boxes containing classified documents were allegedly stored in numerous unsecured locations—in a ballroom and bathroom, among others—throughout Mar-a-Lago, which hosted tens of thousands of guests during more than 100 events during the period the documents were in Trump’s possession, according to prosecutors. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges and has claimed the DOJ brought the case at Biden’s behest to thwart his re-election chances. The Biden administration has repeatedly said it has no role in the case and Smith was appointed to handle the case independent of Attorney General Merrick Garland’s office.

What To Watch For

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon is set to hold a hearing Wednesday on Trump’s request to dismiss the case. Cannon postponed the May 20 trial date indefinitely—likely after the November election—citing numerous unresolved issues, along with Trump’s ongoing Manhattan hush money trial.