In docs case, Trump doubles down on absurd 'deadly force' claim [View all]

[LetMyPeopleVote]

The problem with Donald Trump's "deadly force" claims about the FBI isn't just that he's lying. It's also that his lies might prove dangerous.

Link to tweet

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/docs-case-trump-doubles-absurd-deadly-force-claim-rcna153704

On Tuesday afternoon, the former president, referencing the newly available materials, claimed by way of his social media platform that the Justice Department “AUTHORIZED THE FBI TO USE DEADLY (LETHAL) FORCE” while executing a court-approved search warrant at Mar-a-Lago. This, according to Trump, constituted proof that President Joe Biden is “MENTALLY UNFIT TO HOLD OFFICE.”....

After the claims were thoroughly and completely discredited, and the FBI itself took the unusual step of issuing a public statement leaving no doubt that the former president and his allies simply had no idea what they were talking about, Trump repeated the claim anyway. From an item published to his social-media platform shortly after midnight:

“... Biden’s Department of Injustice authorized the use of ‘deadly force’ in their Illegal, UnConstitutional, and Un-American RAID of Mar-a-Lago, and that would include against our Great Secret Service, who they thought might be ‘in the line of fire.’”

The presumptive GOP nominee would apparently have the public believe that Biden directed law enforcement to prepare to shoot people, including Secret Service agents, at Mar-a-Lago.....

The basic details are unambiguous and uncontested:

After Trump defied a federal subpoena, the FBI executed a court-approved search warrant at Mar-a-Lago. This was neither “illegal” nor “unconstitutional.”

The relevant paperwork included standard language, used every time the FBI executes a court-approved search warrant.

The language is intended to limit, not encourage, the use of deadly force.

When the FBI searched Biden’s home in Delaware as part of a separate search for classified documents, the paperwork included the same phrasing — which, by Team Trump’s reasoning, means the Biden administration was prepared to “assassinate” the Democratic incumbent himself.

But as easy as it is to shake one’s head in disgust at Republicans’ willingness to peddle such ludicrous lies — even after they’ve been debunked — it’s just as important, if not more so, to consider the potential consequences.