This kidnap plot was not theirs, and the FBI is making a mess.
It could be an opportunity to distract from the bigger PR problems that the FBI and DOJ are facing with the Mar-A-Lago raid. This could be a distraction from the main task at hand. AnotherTheir mess has been a disaster. Pete Kaliner recently had me as a guest host. And at one point, I covered the Senate HearingChristopher Wray (FBI director) was present. The Whitmer investigation was discussed with Christopher Wray, FBI director. was promoted to the D.C. branchShe is responsible for the Jan 6th investigation.
Ted Cruz was pointed to by Wray’s questioning on the matter. These questions got me down to the rabbit hole to find out what the Whitmer case has been.
It has become even more chaotic.
Quick overview: 12 people were involved in plotting to kidnap Governor Whitmer for handling the COVID pandemic. The FBI was said to have foiled the scheme. Only four of the twelve involved in the plot were brought to court. The Bureau now faces serious problems.
The Bureau simply collapsed after so much building up from The DOJ. After it became clear that they had been entrapped two of the members were exonerated. The other two including the accused ringleader Adam Fox resulted in an hung jury. The federal government initiated the retrialOn August 9, Fox and Barry Croft were co-conspirators. Problems remain for government officials, and once-hyped case which appeared to be a breeze has been a nightmare for FBI and DOJ.
The possibility of a relation between the Bureau’s Whitmer camp and the Bureau is not just speculation. Mark Totten is appointed the US Attorney for the FBI’s office in this area. However, it has resulted in an entanglement. Totten, who was nominated for Biden, took control of the FBI office in the area shortly after Fox’s Fox ruling. However, the government now has the right to open a new trial and Totten will have to withdraw himself. This is because he was formerly Gretchen Whitmer’s chief legal advisor since she took office.
From the FBI’s perspective, the case is an absolute mess. Many of the Feds’ primary suspects have been reprimanded for their conduct. Stephen Robeson is the FBI’s primary informant. He was one of several witnesses who claimed that he was behind the plot. They seem to have melted him. Robeson, who was being held on gun charges, wasn’t called after the fact.
Three FBI agents were involved in this plot. Having been removed from court caseSeveral other issues. Jonathan Roth, who is the principal prosecutor in the case was also announced. He was about to step down.. There are many questions as this second trial draws to a close and will be presented to the jury. It is interesting that Whitmer was involved in the comedy of errors with the Feds.
Governor Whitmer mentioned the fact she was appraised about the plot before her. telling CNN’s Erin Burnett, immediately after the arrests, that she had learned of the issue “in recent weeks”. It could have been that security had been stepped in to safeguard her, or she was being warned. It is important to ask questions about the extent of her involvement with the Feds and the source. How involved was the Whitmer group with discredited, dismissed agents and/or informants if they were working with the Feds?
Another obstacle for the prosecutors are the agencies themselves. In recent weeks, the FBI has been doing no good in trying to project an image of an indestructible law enforcement department. Already in hot water for bias claims over the years and the March trial which led to a messy result was a further concern, then there’s the backlash against the Mar-A-Lago Raid that adds to this character depreciation. The following is the TimesOne expert’s opinion:
Barbara McQuade who was the Detroit top federal prosecutor, stated that prosecutors might still be tempted to support informant’s testimony with additional evidence.
“I think there was a time when prosecutors assumed that just because an F.B.I. agent said it was true, a jury would believe it,” Ms. McQuade, who now teaches law at the University of Michigan, said this week before the search at Mr. Trump’s home was publicly known. “And I think we live in a time when that is no longer the case.”
This case also has a wrinkle: a witness described how one witness handled the matter. FBI assisted in opening the Michigan CapitolProtestors were represented at a 2020 gathering. Today’s closing arguments at this retrial show that the FBI has not been operating with unquestioned power before the case goes to the jury. It is its fault that the Bureau’s credibility has suffered a severe blow lately.