Suspects Involved in Plotting To Kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer Seek Dismissal With Their New Creative Defense

The attorneys for five men accused of attempting to abduct Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer asked for their charges to be dropped due to federal authorities' "egregious overreach."

On Saturday night, the lawyers submitted a 20-page document alleging that FBI agents and federal prosecutors created a conspiracy and ensnared people, and they requested US District Judge Robert Kolker to dismiss the conspiracy allegation.

Whitmer's attempted kidnappers say FBI plot to entrap them

After one of the agents, Richard Trask, was convicted of a domestic violence misdemeanor and terminated, the request was filed, The Independent reported.

The five men have been charged with attempting to kidnap Whitmer, and their trial is set on March 8. All of the defendants pled not guilty and claimed entrapment. Ty Garbin, the sixth guy, pled guilty and is currently serving a six-year term.

Prosecutors claim that the accused plotted to abduct Whitmer in response to public health measures she implemented to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. They allegedly scouted her second property in northern Michigan as part of their planning.

Prosecutors claim Ty Garbin, Adam Fox, Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris, Barry Croft, and Brandon Caserta planned to kidnap Whitmer as retaliation for her actions last year when she implemented COVID-19 safety precautions to stem the spread of the coronavirus. Garbin has entered a guilty plea and is collaborating with the authorities. The other five defendants have entered not guilty pleas, as per MSNBC.

In a court filing on Saturday, attorneys for the five men said that they were effectively lured into a conspiracy. Their customers had just gone along with it out of "patriotism and right-doing," they claimed. After an FBI agent assigned to the investigation, Richard Trask, was arrested on a domestic assault allegation and then dismissed and convicted of a misdemeanor, there has been a push for his firing.

Suspects seek to dismiss the indictment

The suspects were not entrapped, according to prosecutors. They said that some of the men were members of the Wolverine Watchmen, a paramilitary organization that planned for the kidnapping by surveilling Whitmer's house and performing field drills for preparation.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., a Republican conspiracy theorist, alleged only last week that federal officials "encouraged individuals to go in" during the Jan. 6 attack. The men's defense attorneys in Michigan are employing the same strategy, boosting the right movement's hazardous game plan of committing acts of political violence and blaming opponents on government conspiracy theories.

Per Daily Mail, Dan allegedly paid for petrol, tolls, food, and accommodation as well as driving the suspected plotters to militia-style training weekends in Wisconsin and Michigan. According to the defense team, Dan was paid $50,000 for his services in ratting out the men.

The lawyers add that Harris and Fox stated that they were "not cool with offensive kidnapping." Dan recommended alternative property crimes when the men rejected the kidnapping idea. All of the men have entered not guilty pleas. Federal prosecutors disagree, and the matter is still being pursued. The guys allegedly plotted to kidnap Whitmer, a Democrat, over coronavirus regulations, including scouting her second house in northern Michigan, according to the authorities.