The behavior of the FBI and its informants has once more been called into question, portraying the bureau as a corrupt entrapment agency that ought to be disbanded and its powers handed over to other federal entities.
The bureau’s use of insider confidential informants is once more the center of a second trial involving two men who were initially arrested in connection with an alleged 'plot' to "kidnap" Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, reports The Daily Wire -- a plot that just happened to have been hatched only a few months before the 2020 election to make Donald Trump's supporters look like domestic terrorists.
"In April, a jury hung on federal charges of a conspiracy involving defendants Adam Fox and Barry Croft while also acquitting two others in the case. Two additional men pleaded guilty to the allegation before the first trial started in March," Conservative Brief reported, citing the other outlet.
The Daily Wire adds:
After the government failed to secure a conviction on a single charge in April, federal prosecutors chose to pursue the case against Fox and Croft again. The FBI arrested the two men in October 2020 after a seven-month investigation into a conspiracy to kidnap and potentially assassinate Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
While the men made violent statements against Whitmer and concocted plots, sometimes extravagant, against the governor over her COVID regulations and other actions, the defendants’ attorneys have argued that their clients were just venting. The attorneys further argued that the investigation, which involved dozens of FBI agents and informants, amounted to entrapment.
Prosecutors have said that the defendants were part of a dangerous and radical group that took concrete steps to carry out kidnapping and potentially killing the governor. Those steps included several training camps and two trips to survey the governor’s vacation cottage.
As in the case of the first trial botched by the DOJ, the legal defense for Fox and Croft primarily rests on the outrageous and allegedly illegal behavior of the FBI's confidential human sources.
Late last week, their attorneys focused on relationships that two informants, Jenny Plunk and Steve Robeson, had with the two defendants. Both of the FBI informants smoked pot, which is against federal law, with Croft, while at another point, Plunk reportedly shared a hotel room with him, according to additional reporting from Yahoo News.
“Does the FBI have a policy about opposite-gender sources sleeping in the same room?” Croft attorney Joshua Blanchard asked FBI Special Agent Christopher Long, before going on to ask about whether the agent had ever been a part of a case involving an informant sleeping in the same room as a suspect.
The report noted that Long said that he had not heard of that before.
Also, Long was asked about a text message he sent to Plunk during the investigation after several militia members attempted to put some distance between them and Croft, with Long attempting to persuade Plunk to keep all of them together.
“You just have to find common ground … Show them the good ideas Croft brought, and show them what’s workable and not. A compromise may be needed on both sides,” he said, as reported by FOX 17.
At the same time, Robeson's conflicts ran so deep during the investigation that federal authorities considered him a "double agent" acting on behalf of those allegedly involved in the 'kidnap' conspiracy.
The first case fell apart almost immediately.
"In December, for instance, prosecutors announced that they would not call on three FBI agents involved in the case after allegations of personal and professional misconduct. And one informant in the case was charged with fraud in an unrelated case, also in December," Conservative Brief reported, citing the Washington Examiner.
Attorneys for the defendants submitted stunning filings on Christmas Day proving that the FBI and its informants “conceived and controlled every aspect” to allegedly 'kidnap' Whitmer.
“These defendants had no desire whatsoever to kidnap anyone,” the attorneys argued.
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