Michael Hernandez
24 May 2024•Update: 24 May 2024
WASHINGTON
Attorney General Merrick Garland staunchly denied on Thursday ex-President Donald Trump's claim that federal agents were granted authorization to use lethal force on him when they executed a search warrant at his Mar-a-Lago estate in 2022.
Trump circulated a fundraising email beginning Tuesday in which he appeared to reference court documents in his ongoing federal classified documents case that were unsealed the day prior. They included a routine line from the Justice Department's manual that notes "law enforcement officers and correctional officers of the Department of Justice may use deadly force only when necessary."
Trump was notably not at his Mar-a-Lago property when the search warrant was executed. The Washington Post earlier reported that the FBI selected a day when Trump would not have been at the estate to carry out the search.
Garland said the document that Trump is referring to is "Justice Department standard policy limiting the use of force," saying Trump's allegation is "false and it is extremely dangerous."
"As the FBI advises, it is part of the standard operations plan for searches, and in fact, it was even used in the consensual search of President Biden's home," he told reporters at the Justice Department.
Trump pounced on it, however, sending supporters a fundraising email with a subject line of "They were authorized to shoot me!" and alleging that federal agents were authorized to assassinate him.
"You know they’re just itching to do the unthinkable," he wrote. "Joe Biden was locked & loaded ready to take me out & put my family in danger."
