The transparently fake FBI creation of a kidnapping plot against Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, run entirely by the FBI undercover operatives by duping a few wack jobs and potheads to plot the fake operation, fell on its face in court. Two of the four were acquitted and a hung jury ended the case for two others. The scam was set up just before the 2020 election and played a role in the “domestic terrorism by right-wing extremists” meme that was aimed at defeating the Trump campaign.
Defense lawyers described the whole operation as credulous “weekend warriors” tricked by FBI agents and informants into targeting the governor. One defense attorney said the plan was “utter nonsense,” and pleaded with jurors to be the “firewall” against the government. “I think what the FBI did is unconscionable,” another defense attorney said outside court. “And I think the jury just sent them a message loud and clear that these tactics—we’re not going to condone what they’ve done here.”
Governor Whitmer’s chief of staff, JoAnne Huls, gave away the intent of the gambit, telling the press that the operation was not an FBI scam, but “the result of violent, divisive rhetoric that is all too common across our country. There must be accountability and consequences for those who commit heinous crimes. Without accountability, extremists will be emboldened.”
