Trump and his allies exploded with outrage this week over a throwaway line in a court filing from the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case clarifying the FBI's authorization for "deadly force" when they searched Trump's property. But it turned out this was a standard line that applies to all searches — and to further drive the point home, the same language applied when President Joe Biden's premises were searched.
According to Fox News' Jacqui Heinrich, "A person familiar with the Hur investigation confirms that the standard Department of Justice policy statement regarding the use of deadly force was also included in the operations order for the searches at President Biden’s residences in Delaware."
Biden was probed by special counsel Robert Hur with his own classified documents investigation after some papers bearing classified markings were discovered in his personal effects by attorneys clearing out his office.
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Unlike in the Trump case, however, where the former president was determined to have deliberately removed and concealed documents from authorities, the papers in Biden's possession appeared to be there inadvertently, and Hur concluded the investigation with no charges filed — though he made some controversial and disputed remarks about Biden's mental fitness in the final report.
Despite Trump blasting out an email to his followers which stated "Joe Biden was locked & loaded ready to take me out," noted Heinrich, "The FBI said standard protocol was followed, no additional steps were taken and there was no departure from the norm. This news about the deadly force policy also being in place for the FBI searches at Biden's homes underscores that point."
The Mar-a-Lago classified documents case, which also charges Trump's valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos de Oliveira with trying to help him conceal the material, is currently in limbo as Trump-appointed District Judge Aileen Cannon has postponed the trial indefinitely to resolve a number of pretrial disputes she has sat on for months.