© Associated PressArmed Secret Service agents stand outside an entrance to former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, late Monday, August 8 in Palm Beach, Florida
The Biden administration authorized the use of deadly force during the FBI's raid on former President Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in August 2022 as part of its investigation into classified records, court documents revealed.
The jarring language accompanying the unprecedented raid drew harsh responses from the Trump campaign, but Fox News learned that the same language also accompanied a search warrant for President Biden's Delaware home. Both searches were for classified documents.
"The FBI followed standard protocol in this search as we do for all search warrants, which includes a standard policy statement limiting the use of deadly force. No one ordered additional steps to be taken and there was no departure from the norm in this matter," the FBI told Fox News in a statement. "The standard deadly force policy statement included in the operations order for the search of the former president's residence was also included in the operations order for the search of the sitting president's residence in Delaware, as is standard practice for all FBI operations orders."
Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi joined 'Fox & Friends First' to discuss her reaction to the newly unveiled court documents and the latest on the NY v. Trump trial in Manhattan:
An "Operations Order" produced in discovery as part of Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigation into Trump's alleged improper retention of classified records revealed that the "FBI believed its objective for the Mar-a-Lago raid was to seize 'classified information, NDI, and US Government records,'" as described in the search warrant.
The order, according to a court filing, 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."
According to the filing, the DOJ and FBI agents "planned to bring 'Standard Issue Weapons,' 'Ammo,' 'Handcuffs,' and 'medium and large sized bolt cutters,' but they were instructed to wear 'unmarked polo or collared shirts' and to keep 'law enforcement equipment concealed."
Trump, who spent another day in a New York City courtroom for his unprecedented criminal trial stemming from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's investigation into Trump allegedly falsifying business records, reacted to the revelations Tuesday afternoon.
"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 posted on his Truth Social. "NOW WE KNOW, FOR SURE, THAT JOE BIDEN IS A SERIOUS THREAT TO DEMOCRACY."
Trump added, "HE IS MENTALLY UNFIT TO HOLD OFFICE — 25TH AMENDMENT!"
© Department of Justice via APThis image was contained in a DOJ court filing on Aug. 30, 2022, and redacted in part by the FBI, shows a photo of documents seized during the Aug. 8, 2022, search by the FBI of former President Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Trump was also charged with an additional three counts as part of a superseding indictment out of the investigation: a count of willful retention of national defense information and two obstruction counts.
Trump pleaded not guilty
The federal judge presiding over the case, Judge Aileen Cannon of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, postponed the trial stemming from Smith's case indefinitely. The trial was set to begin May 20.
Comment: Compare with the kid glove treatment Biden received over his stash of classified materials. The raid was meant as pure intimidation.