Was Virginia governor Ralph Northam designated to be the target of another kidnapping hoax like the concocted one involving Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer?
Two weeks ago, a Michigan jury acquitted two defendants and could not reach a verdict on the other two, in the case of the fake plot to kidnap Whitmer, a plot supposedly foiled by the derring-do of the intrepid FBI.
The defendants’ attorneys argued that significant elements of their training and planning were “conceived, planned, and conducted by the federal investigative team of agents and undercover informants working together to provide a stage upon which to manipulate their targets into acting out ostensibly incriminating behavior the government hoped to elicit in its bid to develop and then ‘interrupt’ the operation of a ‘domestic terrorist organization.’”
And according to Julie Kelly of American Greatness, a similar plot was hatched in Virginia, in which Frank Butler, a disabled veteran in his 60s, was encouraged to engage in acts of terror. In Summer 2020, Butler was contacted by Dan Chappel, the main informant in the Whitmer escapade (and who was compensated at least $60,000 by the FBI for his services). Defense attorneys write that “Dan [Chappel] suggested to Frank [Butler] that he attack the governor of Virginia.”
Text messages show Chappel asking for instructions from Jayson Chambers, one of his FBI handlers. “Goin to call frank butler today,” Chappel texted Chambers. “Mission is to kill the governor specifically,” Chambers replied.
