Attorney General Merrick Garland slammed Donald Trump on Thursday for falsely claiming that President Joe Biden ordered the FBI to assassinate him during a search for classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort in August 2022.
The false claim stems from newly unsealed court documents Tuesday in the ongoing investigation over Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving office.
Trump claims the FBI was authorized to assassinate him during the search at Mar-a-Lago, citing a standard policy document that limited the use of deadly force which was included in the operation plan.
The former president has also been fundraising off of the false claim. He sent a fundraising email to his followers this week with the headline: “BIDEN’S DOJ WAS AUTHORIZED TO SHOOT ME!”
On Thursday, Garland explained that it is standard protocol to include the language in search warrants and that a similar memo on the use of deadly force was also used in the FBI search of President Biden’s home in January 2023.
“That allegation is false and it is extremely dangerous,” Garland said of Trump’s assassination conspiracy theory. “The document that has been referred to in the allegation is the Justice Department’s standard policy, limiting the use of force as the FBI advises it as part of the standard operations plan for searches.”
“In fact, it was even used in the consensual search of President Biden’s home,” he added.
The FBI also provided an updated statement saying its use of a “deadly force” policy statement was included when agents search Biden’s home and that it “is standard practice for all FBI operations orders.”
“No one ordered additional steps to be taken and there was no departure from the norm in this matter,” the agency said in a statement.
