#1. When did the FBI search Mar a Lago Monday August 8th, 2022 at 9am. Source: Trump confirmed it about 7 PM that night https://x.com/joeygarrison/status/1556776282976813063
#2. Was Trump at Mar a Lago.
No. He learned about the raid from Eric Trump. Eric got a phone call about it from staff at Mar-a-Lago and then called his dad.
Source Eric Trump on Hannity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTo6_xrdwaY
#3. Where was Trump? New York.
He doesn't stay at Mar a Lago in the summer. The club is closed in August. It was 91 degrees the day of the raid.
He had just been at CPAC in Dallas on Aug 6 and returned to NY. He was seen outside Trump Tower the evening of August 7 He was to be deposed in the NY civil case that week, this was announced Aug 3 and later Trump revealed it in a Truth Social post
source https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/108796642170617062 https://x.com/danielchaitin7/status/1557221250526748673
#4. What was Trump doing when the FBI was at Mar a Lago?
He was watching it on the Trump Org security cameras.
Source: Trump's lawyer Christina Bobb. She was at Mar a Lago that day, but was not allowed in. She eventually signed the receipt of what the FBI took. She signed it at 6:19 PM
https://x.com/RealAmVoice/status/1557895937195999235
"The Folks in NY, President Trump and his family probably had a better view then I did.
#5. Did the Secret Service know the FBI was coming? It appears Yes they did, but they were only told the day of, a few hours before the FBI arrived.
Source NBC
Just hours before agents searched Trump's residence, the FBI notified the Secret Service about the bureau’s plans to execute the warrant, according to a Secret Service official. The Secret Service facilitated access to the property, the official said, but did not participate in any aspect of the search.
BBC via CBS https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62472908
An unnamed law enforcement official told CBS News, the BBC's US partner, that the Secret Service was notified shortly before the warrant was served at about 10:00 local time (14:00 GMT) and that agents protecting Mr Trump helped the FBI investigators.
#6 Did the Secret Service ever release a statement?
I don't think so. The above were off the record comments. (but they were not retracted, which is crucial, They knew this was mentioned in the media.) IF they ever released a statement or if they are quoted in court documents, I couldn't find it.
According to Mulitple reports Secret Service Agents did testify before the grand jury. again the agency did not retract these reports.
A spokesperson for Secret Service said the agency has no comment.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/secret-service-officials-to-testify-grand-jury-trump-documents-probe/
- Were FBI Agents "authorized" to use force?
YES. but*
- Was this authorization unusual?
Probably not. It certainly wasn't specific to the Mar a Lago search.
Here's the but*, the authorization is that standard for any FBI officer. You are only authorized in very unusual circumstances. When this was reported on Twitter ONLY was left out
Law enforcement officers of the Department of Justice may use deadly force **ONLY when necessary, that is, when the officer has a reasonable belief that the subject of such force poses an imminent danger of death or serious physical injury to the officer or to another person. **
Source Page 11 of this PDF https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24679626-us_dis_flsd_9_23cr80101_d142246036e19342_-2_exhibit_3_4
- Why do you say this was not specific to Mar a Lago?
One, it matches the language in the standard FBI manual https://www.justice.gov/jm/1-16000-department-justice-policy-use-force#1-16.200
Two, this language doesn't seem to apply Warning shots are not permitted outside of the prison context.
Three when you actually read the law enforcement operations order in full, not just the bits on twitter, it looks like a standard set of forms
There's four blank forms about subjects. Including identifying marks and tattoos. There's blank forms about prisoners. There's info specific to MAL like a map and pictures from security footage, but in general, it looks like a template, where you fill in what you need.
- What does the actual operations order tell us?
Tons. I just found it after writing most of this post.
Page 11 did they plan to coordinate with the US Secret Service? Yes.
Coordination with the following will be executed as described above: USSS and other LE Agencies deemed necessary MAL Security and Staff (execution occurs during off-season date range) SDFL and DOJ/CES will be on stand-by for questions at the FBI/WPBRA.
Page 12 what happens if Trump shows up?
- Should FPOTUS arrive at MAL, FBI MM EM and OSCs will be prepared to engage with FPOTUS and USSS Security Team.
On Page 23 there's another exihibit. Created on August 17 Search warrant executed at 10:33 am, but there's there got there at 9am. Took pictures outside. at 9:15 they called Person 18 who I'm pretty sure is Trump's lawyer Tim Parlatore NOPE. DIFFERENT LAWYER. It was Evan Corcoran who like the designated documents contact. 9:30 they heard back from him.
It mentions what the coordination between FBI and USSS was. Prior the FBI entering MAL, FBI leadership "informed and coordinated" with local USSS leadership.
Local USSS facilitated entry onto the premises, provided escort and access to various locations within and posted USSS personnel at the locations where the FBI searched
SS not to be trusted any more than the fbi. They will only use the “I was just following orders” excuse.
Here's what Bongino had to say about it yesterday.
https://rumble.com/v4wsgi6-deadly-force-bombshell-in-trump-raid-exposed-this-is-catastrophic.html (7 mins)
I stopped when he said Julie Kelly is a great reporter who got her hands on the ops plan.
Well, so did i. That's the PDF I reference above. It was released to the public. Not too hard to find. My point is we can check what she is saying. We also have access to the same document she does. I mentioned in some of my other comments there a Jan 6 defense lawyer who is very familiar with federal operations plans who's fighting with DB and JK over this.
Here's a pertinent tweet
https://x.com/shipwreckedcrew/status/1793704809838862723?t=Ey0YTqYhPyj3TDI5ZjsYNw&s=19
Then maybe you should have listened to the video. If you had you'd have heard him talk about gray areas in government. An FBI agent is not allowed into the White House armed, no matter why he's there, even to serve a warrant. For that matter even a Secret Service agent that isn't on the executive detail isn't allowed to carry a weapon in the White House. I knew that because my nephew is a retired USSS agent and until he got on Bush 2's detail he wasn't allowed to carry around the White House or the president.
Mar a Lago is not the White House.
Trump was not there
Trump was under executive protection. Same rules.
My understanding is those rules are different if the person they are protecting is not present.
More importantly there is no evidence I'm aware of that the Secret Service had issues with this search.
They were authorized to use lethal force if Trump showed up. That says all you need to know. As for the FBI being armed whenever they want that is not true. A sheriff can, and some have, made the FBI, DEA or ATF disarm while in their county or they can evict them from the county or arrest them if they resist. So just because an unconstitutional agency (FBI) wants to carry their weapon they can't always do so.
They are authorized to use lethal force because they are federal special agents. They are given a gun as part of their job.
https://www.specialagents.org/what-is-a-1811-special-agent
They are limited in their use of force.
They are also trained in de-escalation techniques. The authorization to use force is severely limited. It seems to me that the policy is put in the operation plan as a reminder of those limits.
There's no requirement for law enforcement to be disarmed around a former president. You can find plenty of pictures of cops with guns right near Trump.
There's no evidence. I have seen that the Secret Service had any problem with how this was done at Mar-A-Lago
So in essence, a lot of the stuff posted on twatter and TS about the raid has been hyperbole... Trump was in NY in off-season of MAL and no danger to him was posed... Thank you for this post, it clears a lot of things up for me... Cheers fren... ☕️☕️☕️