Defense for suspects in Whitmer kidnapping plot blast FBI for entrapment, lack of credibility

FOX 2 - Attorneys for the men accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer say not only are they innocent, but the FBI and US Justice Department hatched a plot to entrap them.

One of the original defendants pleaded guilty and is serving a six-year sentence in prison.

Federal prosecutors say the six who were upset over COVID-19 measures that shut down the state, staked out Whitmer's vacation home in northern Michigan. 

"There are some depraved things that are happening in our society," Whitmer said. "I trust law enforcement and the judicial process to get justice."

According to a recent 20-page pre-trial motion, defense attorneys wrote in part:

"When the government was faced with evidence showing that the defendants had no interest in a kidnapping plot, it refused to accept failure and continued to push its plan."

The five suspects facing charges in the Whitmer kidnapping plot.

"There's a lot of room for mischief. The government can do an awful lot of enticing, persuading, cajoling to get people to commit a crime. And it's uphill to even raise the issue of entrapment for a jury," said FOX News' Jim Trusty, a legal analyst.

Defense attorneys are expected in trial to raise questions about the credibility of the FBI itself, including the lead special agent in the case, Richard Trask. 

Trask pleaded no contest last week to a domestic violence charge against his wife in connection to a swingers party in July, and was fired from the FBI. 

Disgraced former lead FBI agent Richard Trask.

Prosecutors say Trask also posted a tirade full of obscenities about former President Donald Trump on his Facebook page. Trask and two other FBI agents in the case will not be testifying at the kidnap plot trial.

"In front of a judge for a pretrial motion to dismiss, I don't think the dirt about the agents, the undercovers, or the informants gets a whole lot of traction," Trusty said. "But at trial you shouldn't underestimate that."

The trial for the suspects is scheduled to begin March 8 and they are facing life in prison.

Federal court sketch of a hearing involving the suspects accused of the Whitmer kidnapping plot.