Garland: Policy Trump invoked in assassination claim also included in Biden search

Attorney General Merrick Garland on Tuesday pushed back on claims from former President Trump that the FBI had a green light to assassinate him, noting the language the former president highlighted was also included in the search warrant for President Biden’s home.

The use of force policy that has been blasted by Trump as permission to “take me out” is something Garland said is “routinely part of the package for search warrants.”

The statement Trump has pointed to allows deadly force “only when necessary,” such as when someone “poses an imminent danger of death or serious physical injury to the officer or to another person.” 

“The document that’s being discussed is our standard use of force protocol, which is a limitation of the use of force, which is routinely part of the package for search warrants and was part of the package for the search of President Biden’s home as well,” during his classified documents probe, Garland said.

Trump nonetheless fundraised off of the use of force policy, claiming at various turns that both the Justice Department and even President Biden “was authorized to shoot” him.

Addressing the claim directly, Garland said the “allegation is not true.”

During his opening remarks, Garland also took a veiled jab at Trump’s claims, saying “baseless and extremely dangerous falsehoods are being spread about the FBI’s law enforcement operations.”