Gretchen Whitmer and her husband were thrilled to see videos of explosives. They watched the video just hours before they drove north to look for their vacation home. An FBI agent testified Monday.
Tim Bates, working as "Red", was pretending to be undercover when he tricked the group into believing he knew someone who could obtain high-grade explosives from the mining industry.
The government's case against Adam Fox Jr., Barry Croft Jr. and Daniel Harris is built around a bomb. Brandon Caserta and Brandon Caserta are charged with plotting to kidnap Whitmer due to Whitmer's tough COVID-19 policies, and their general disgust with government.
Prosecutors claim Fox wanted to destroy a bridge close to Whitmer's second house in northern Michigan, to stop any police response to a kidnapping.
Bates was secretly recording conversations and said he attended a Luther, Michigan training weekend. He shared videos of explosives blowing up an automobile.
"Mr. Fox was thrilled about the video, Bates said to the jury. Croft also seemed excited.
Two men were described as the leaders of a plot against the Michigan governor. Gretchen Whitmer and her husband were thrilled to see videos of explosives. They watched the video just hours before they drove north to look for their vacation home. An FBI agent testified Monday.
Tim Bates, working as "Red", was pretending to be undercover when he tricked the group into believing he knew someone who could obtain high-grade explosives from the mining industry.
The government's case against Adam Fox Jr., Barry Croft Jr. and Daniel Harris is built around a bomb. Brandon Caserta and Brandon Caserta are charged with plotting to kidnap Whitmer due to Whitmer's tough COVID-19 policies, and their general disgust with government.
Prosecutors claim Fox wanted to destroy a bridge close to Whitmer's second house in northern Michigan, to stop any police response to a kidnapping.
Bates was secretly recording conversations and said he attended a Luther, Michigan training weekend. He shared videos of explosives blowing up an automobile.
"Mr. Fox was thrilled about the video," Bates said to the jury. He also added that Croft was "also excited".
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Bates, Fox, Croft, and other passengers traveled in three vehicles to Elk Rapids. They wanted to see Whitmer's Birch Lake house and to inspect a bridge.
Why? Nils Kessler, Assistant U.S. attorney, asked the question.
"To kidnap she,"Bates testified.
Croft said to the group that he needed to "take a nap...to have energy" in order to abduct Whitmer that evening, but Bates stated that that was not the plan.
Fox later asked Bates, following his return to the Luther camp to collect the explosive valued at $4,000, a recording reveals.
Prosecutors indicated that they could present evidence on Tuesday, the 12th, or Wednesday, at the latest.
Defense lawyers deny that Whitmer was actually plotting to snatch him. They claim the men were improperly indoctrinated by informants and undercover agents, and they exchanged wild talk while smoking pot.
Fox's lawyer attempted to minimize the stop at bridge. Bates acknowledged that he encouraged Fox and his lawyer to take pictures of the structure's underside while they were looking at the bridge.
"That's a sidewalk. Attorney Christopher Gibbons stated to the agent that there are no signs stating "no trespassing". "Anybody can run under that bridge at any time."
Joshua Blanchard, a Croft attorney suggested that the FBI would like to strengthen the case against Fox through a bridge photo taken from his phone.
Blanchard asked Bates if anyone ever gave him money to buy explosives. "No one has ever shaken your hand and said, ‘You’ve got a deal.’"
The agent responded, "Correct."
Ty Garbin, Kaleb Franks and Kaleb Wrights were two other men arrested in October 2020. They pleaded guilty to being critical witnesses last week.
Garbin stated that Whitmer's kidnapping might spark a U.S. civil War involving antigovernment organizations, and possibly stop Joe Biden winning the presidency.
Fox spoke out about taking the governor , Franks stated.
A lawyer representing an informant stated that Steve Robeson would invoke the right to remain silent if he was called by the defense as a witness. Although Robeson was a government witness, prosecutors used his secret recordings. Last fall, he pleaded guilty to a gun crime in Wisconsin.
Whitmer, a Democrat rarely speaks publicly about the kidnapping plot. However, she did refer to "surprises", during her term, that seemed like "something outof fiction" when she filed for reelection.
She blamed Donald Trump , former President, for inciting anger about coronavirus restrictions. Whitmer claimed that Trump was complicit with the Jan. 6 Capitol Riot.
