{"id":1880,"asset_id":"2191","title":"FBI Prepared to use Deadly Force at Mar a Lago Raid","alias":"fbi-prepared-to-use-deadly-force-at-mar-a-lago-raid","introtext":"<p><br \/><br \/><\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">H\/T Jeff Childers Coffee &amp; Covid\ud83d\udd25\ud83d\udd25 Yesterday, <a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/redirect\/723190e1-7c56-4e18-b3c5-67ba4591ea65?j=eyJ1Ijoicnp1NjAifQ.UYU96t_aqtPn0rf8uo-MDATPQvfAPcNrZpbBcjE4KO8\">Newsweek \u2014 bless them \u2014 was the only corporate media platform to cover a shocking story<\/a> broken by stalwart independent journalist and legal analyst Julie Kelly, with this dramatic and infuriating headline:<\/p>\r\n<table data-component-name=\"Image2ToDOMStatic\">\r\n<tbody>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>&nbsp;<\/td>\r\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/redirect\/996e5501-6564-4936-8be7-f11716bdf7ef?j=eyJ1Ijoicnp1NjAifQ.UYU96t_aqtPn0rf8uo-MDATPQvfAPcNrZpbBcjE4KO8\"><img src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_2912,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F07a38967-6b31-4406-a664-604d9c425bd6_2440x300.png\" alt=\"image 6.png\" width=\"550\" height=\"67.61675824175825\" data-attrs=\"{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;&lt;a href=\" substack-post-media=\"\" 07a38967-6b31-4406-a664-604d9c425bd6_2440x300=\"\" \/><\/a><\/td>\r\n<td>&nbsp;<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">While we\u2019ve all been distracted by the mad gutter fireworks in Merchan\u2019s Manhattan joke of a p*rnopgraphic Soviet show-trial, much more momentous things have been happening down in Florida, where Federal Judge Cannon has ordered a lot of government documents to be unsealed and unredacted.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">One document unsealed yesterday was the FBI\u2019s \"operations order\u201d for the agency\u2019s execrable, banana-republic-style Mar-a-Lago raid. The Operations Order included a long \"policy statement\" regarding the \"use of deadly force,\" which provided in part: \"Law enforcement officers of the Department of Justice may use deadly force when necessary.\"<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">So it\u2019s going to be like <em>that<\/em>.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The language wasn\u2019t boilerplate, or at least, it wasn\u2019t <em>just<\/em> boilerplate. The Operations Order also required attaching a medic to the search team, and even included a map and instructions to the nearest trauma center, presumably for people who got shot during the raid. The small army of FBI agents \u2014 37 of them \u2014 was armed, and was also ordered to conceal their weapons and dress undercover, increasing the palpable risks of confusion and an \u2018unfortunate accident.\u2019<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Grassroots reactions to yesterday\u2019s disclosure were (and still are) <em>incandescent<\/em>. Julie Kelley demanded, \u201cWhat country is this?\u201d Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), angrily tweeted \u201cThe Biden DOJ and FBI were planning to assassinate Pres Trump and gave the green light.\u201d Social media influencer Tim Pool opined in outrage, \u201cThis was either an attempt to kill Trump or incite civil war, maybe both.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The media machine responded promptly, coolly arguing that the FBI was only following \u201cstandard procedure:\u201d<\/p>\r\n<table data-component-name=\"Image2ToDOMStatic\">\r\n<tbody>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>&nbsp;<\/td>\r\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/redirect\/e88b2800-6ee4-4608-87f1-05e98dbda820?j=eyJ1Ijoicnp1NjAifQ.UYU96t_aqtPn0rf8uo-MDATPQvfAPcNrZpbBcjE4KO8\"><img src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_2912,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6ac27663-2e99-436f-8746-9a9f0afbd563_1718x282.png\" alt=\"image 7.png\" width=\"550\" height=\"90.2815934065934\" data-attrs=\"{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;&lt;a href=\" substack-post-media=\"\" 6ac27663-2e99-436f-8746-9a9f0afbd563_1718x282=\"\" \/><\/a><\/td>\r\n<td>&nbsp;<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I\u2019m not an expert on FBI criminal procedure. But completely coincidentally, I once sued a city for excessive force over a militarized SWAT raid against my high-end commercial real-estate brokerage client. Not only were my clients completely innocent \u2014 they were never even charged \u2014 but the raid was just a document search, like the Mar-a-Lago raid, that could easily have been handled using an investigatory subpoena.<\/p>\r\n<table data-component-name=\"Image2ToDOMStatic\">\r\n<tbody>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>&nbsp;<\/td>\r\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/redirect\/f634ee27-64fe-47d1-87dc-973ae77c279e?j=eyJ1Ijoicnp1NjAifQ.UYU96t_aqtPn0rf8uo-MDATPQvfAPcNrZpbBcjE4KO8\"><img src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_1912,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff4da8b5b-290c-4d16-92ef-13aba26daa92_956x382.png\" alt=\"image 18.png\" width=\"550\" height=\"219.76987447698744\" data-attrs=\"{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;&lt;a href=\" substack-post-media=\"\" f4da8b5b-290c-4d16-92ef-13aba26daa92_956x382=\"\" \/><\/a><\/td>\r\n<td>&nbsp;<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Here\u2019s my hot take: The FBI\u2019s \u201cstandard procedure\u201d argument stinks. There was nothing normal about the Mar-a-Lago raid. It wasn\u2019t like the FBI was raiding a Harlem crack house. The FBI was raiding a high-end luxury property <em>secured by the Secret Service<\/em> where the most recent former President lives with no intent to arrest <em>anybody<\/em>. The FBI knew that people with guns would be there \u2014 Secret Service agents \u2014 and yet proceeded with its \u201csurprise\u201d raid in undercover clothing.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It is also difficult to credit the lethal \u201cboilerplate\u201d to simple negligence. The layers of required approvals ran all the way up to Grandma Garland herself. Under no circumstances should deadly force have been authorized. The Secret Service should have had prior notice. The agents should have been unarmed to exclude any possibility of an accident.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">As I said, based on the limited amount we know, it stinks. The already historic raid on a former president by his campaign opponent just became even more historic and disgraceful.<\/p>","fulltext":"","state":1,"catid":"99","created":"2024-05-22 16:02:48","created_by":"873","created_by_alias":"","modified":"2024-05-22 16:26:22","modified_by":"873","checked_out":"873","checked_out_time":"2024-05-22 16:26:07","publish_up":"2024-05-22 16:02:48","publish_down":"0000-00-00 00:00:00","images":"{\"image_intro\":\"\",\"float_intro\":\"\",\"image_intro_alt\":\"\",\"image_intro_caption\":\"\",\"image_fulltext\":\"\",\"float_fulltext\":\"\",\"image_fulltext_alt\":\"\",\"image_fulltext_caption\":\"\"}","urls":"{\"urla\":false,\"urlatext\":\"\",\"targeta\":\"\",\"urlb\":false,\"urlbtext\":\"\",\"targetb\":\"\",\"urlc\":false,\"urlctext\":\"\",\"targetc\":\"\"}","attribs":"{\"article_layout\":\"\",\"show_title\":\"\",\"link_titles\":\"\",\"show_tags\":\"\",\"show_intro\":\"\",\"info_block_position\":\"\",\"info_block_show_title\":\"\",\"show_category\":\"\",\"link_category\":\"\",\"show_parent_category\":\"\",\"link_parent_category\":\"\",\"show_associations\":\"\",\"show_author\":\"\",\"link_author\":\"\",\"show_create_date\":\"\",\"show_modify_date\":\"\",\"show_publish_date\":\"\",\"show_item_navigation\":\"\",\"show_icons\":\"\",\"show_print_icon\":\"\",\"show_email_icon\":\"\",\"show_vote\":\"\",\"show_hits\":\"\",\"show_noauth\":\"\",\"urls_position\":\"\",\"alternative_readmore\":\"\",\"article_page_title\":\"\",\"show_publishing_options\":\"\",\"show_article_options\":\"\",\"show_urls_images_backend\":\"\",\"show_urls_images_frontend\":\"\"}","version":9,"ordering":"0","metakey":"","metadesc":"","access":"1","hits":"1","metadata":"{\"robots\":\"\",\"author\":\"\",\"rights\":\"\",\"xreference\":\"\"}","featured":"1","language":"*","xreference":"","note":""}