Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's Kidnapping Scheme Puts Heat On FBI's Involvement After Two Men Are Acquitted
The FBI's hunt for domestic terrorism in America is leading them down a familiar trail: their own.
On Friday it was announced that a 12-person jury acquitted two men connected to a conspiracy plot to kidnap Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, which first arose in Oct. 2020.
Four of the men connected to the ploy — Adam Fox, Barry Croft, Jr., Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta — were on trial after facing charges of conspiracy to kidnap, based on their ardent opposition to the governor's COVID-19 shutdowns.
Three of the men faced weapons charges as they sought to develop an explosive as part of their ruse.
Both Harris and Caserta were acquitted on Friday, while a mistrial was declared for Fox and Croft, Jr. — the assumed heads of the operation.
Two of the six total suspects pleaded guilty and additionally testified against FBI informants who allegedly progressed the group's chaos project, with an intent to foment a political war.
Ty Garbin, who pleaded guilty, claimed that at least 12 confidential FBI informants helped set up the kidnapping scheme and banked on the group's vehement opposition to Whitmer's COVID-19 restrictions to stir up the ploy.
"It is not unusual to come back somewhere along the line of deliberations and say 'we tried, but couldn’t get there,'" U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker noted, as relayed by Fox News Digital. "At least not on everything."
"Defense lawyers claimed informants and undercover agents improperly influenced the men," added the report.
Adding to the speculation of duplicitous FBI activity was an FBI agent, heading the probe, arrested for his own run-in with the law.
Former lead investigator and FBI Special Agent Richard Trask was arrested for a domestic violence case in 2020.
Trask was removed as a witness in the suit.
An investigation looking into Trask related to the personal incident discovered social media posts that strongly rebuked former President Donald Trump.
Trask previously called Trump a "piece of s**t" on his personal social media, leaving little to the imagination regarding the FBI's true intention to fish out "domestic terrorism."
One informant, Dan Chappel, sought to prosecute the group of men over "antigovernment and anti-law-enforcement rhetoric."
According to a BuzzFeed report, Chappel "tried to build a private security consulting firm based in part on some of his work for the F.B.I."
Whitmer's office released a statement, alleging that the four men's sabotaged plot was an extension of a supposed right-wing agenda.
"The plot to kidnap and kill a governor may seem like an anomaly. But we must be honest about what this really is: the result of violent, divisive rhetoric that is all too common across our country."
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