Liz Cheney has a message for her former GOP colleagues in Congress: Say in public what you already know privately.
The ousted congresswoman called Donald Trump “unstable and dangerous” after the former president distorted the use of “deadly force” language in an FBI document for the Mar-a-Lago search to falsely claim Joe Biden tried to have him assassinated.
“Donald Trump is unstable and dangerous. He knows this is a lie that could again provoke violence from those who blindly follow him. Rs in Congress: You know Trump is unfit. When will you put aside your cowardice and stand up for what you know is right?” Cheney posted to X.
Trump pointed to standard language in an FBI document unsealed Tuesday to baselessly claim that the Biden administration wanted to kill him during a search of his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach nearly two years ago.
“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 wrote in a post on his social media platform Truth Social Tuesday night. “NOW WE KNOW, FOR SURE, THAT JOE BIDEN IS A SERIOUS THREAT TO DEMOCRACY. HE IS MENTALLY UNFIT FOR OFFICE — 25TH AMENDMENT!”
The claim was also boosted online by his supporters.
But the language Trump referenced is a standard policy statement used for issuing search warrants and was not unique to the FBI’s search of his property. It is actually meant to limit the use of deadly force.
The policy statement on the “use of deadly force,” which appeared in an operations order for the Mar-a-Lago search, is not evidence of a plot to kill Trump. It is a Department of Justice policy that is standard to include in such 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,” the agency said in a statement. “No one ordered additional steps to be taken and there was no departure from the norm in this matter.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MatthewArco.
