Video above from June 13, 2023: Former President Trump pleads not guilty in classified documents case
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Former President Donald Trump claimed in a Truth Social post on Tuesday that the FBI was “authorized” to use deadly force during a search for classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.
It is standard procedure for all FBI search warrants to include a statement regarding the use of deadly force.
“The FBI followed standard protocol in this search, as we do for all search warrants, including a standard policy statement limiting the use of deadly force,” an FBI spokesperson confirmed in a statement to WFLA.com. “No one has ordered additional steps to be taken and there has been no deviation from the standard in this matter.”
The legal filing from Trump’s lawyers quotes the policy as follows: “Department of Justice law enforcement officers may use lethal force if necessary….”
However, the actual use of force policy included in the search warrant states: “Department of Justice law enforcement officers may use deadly force only when needed….” (Editor’s note: Bold and italics added for emphasis).
The policy further states: “…that is, when the officer reasonably believes that the subject of such force poses an imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm to the officer or any other person.”
The policy also lists a number of other requirements.
The filing also included directions to a nearby hospital and stated that doctors would be available on site.
Defense attorneys alleged in the motion that the August 2022 search of Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida was unconstitutional and “illegal” and that the FBI affidavit filed in justification of it was tainted by misrepresentations.
The defense’s request was filed in February but was made public Tuesday, along with hundreds of pages of investigation documents filed with the Florida case.
In the newly released motion, Trump’s defense team asked the Florida judge overseeing the case, Aileen Cannon, to suppress audio recordings that the lawyer, M. Evan Corcoran, made of conversations with Trump. Prosecutors responded that there is no basis to exclude that evidence from the case.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys are due back in court on Wednesday for the first time since Cannon indefinitely postponed the former president’s trial earlier this month. The case was scheduled to go to trial on May 20, but Cannon cited numerous issues she has yet to resolve as a basis for canceling the trial date.
On Wednesday, Cannon was scheduled to hear arguments on a request by Trump to dismiss the indictment on the grounds that it fails to clearly articulate a crime and instead amounts to “a personal and political attack on President Trump” with a “litany of unfounded grievances for both public and media consumption.”
The motion is one of several filed by Trump’s lawyers to dismiss the case, some of which have already been dismissed.
Trump has pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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