No Convictions For FBI-Directed ‘White Supremacists’: Whitmer Kidnapping Suspects Acquitted, Jury Deadlocked In Political Prosecution

In a system with a 98%+ conviction rate, where grand juries will indict a ham sandwich – as the old saying goes – the federal government failed to secure a single conviction in the case against four men accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan’s Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

The massive prosecutorial failure (which shouldn’t have been a surprise given the absurd levels of corruption and criminality exposed among the FBI agents who led the investigation, behavior that ultimately led to the lead investigating agent being fired by the bureau) will unquestionably undermine the Biden Administration’s claim that far-right ‘white supremacist’ terror is the biggest internal threat to the US.

Two of the four men were acquitted Friday for their role in the alleged plot (which, in reality, was cooked up by a gang of confidential informants embedded within the group, one of whom rose to second-in-command), while the other two ultimately faced a hung jury, according to the Associated Press.

The jury’s verdicts against Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta were read in the federal court in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in the case presided over by U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker. Jurors said they couldn’t agree on verdicts again Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr. Prosecutors described Fox as a ringleader of an anti-government group.

Michigan AG Dana Nessel has gone to great lengths to paint the men as “extremists” and “white supremacists” during interviews with friendly media outlets, like NPR.

But in an interview with NPR, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said multiple white supremacist and anti-government groups acted “in concert based on a shared extreme ideology.”

“The people that we charged are affiliated with this Wolverine Watchmen group,” Nessel said, adding that it is a Michigan-based group. “But there are multiple white supremacy groups and militia groups that have been acting in accordance with one another.”

Prosecutors relied on testimony from undercover agents, an informant and two men who pleaded guilty to the plot during the trial. Jurors also read and heard secretly recorded conversations, violent social media posts and chat messages. However, their defense lawyers effectively argued that the scheme had been dreamed up by government agents and informants who had been embedded within the group specifically to manipulate the men.

Get ready for the mainstream media to lash out at America’s justice system once again (although this time, it won’t be because of alleged police brutality).

As Johnathan Turley explained last year in the wake of the arrest of the led agent in charge of the case (he was arrested for an unrelated issue – assaulting his wife), there were legitimate concerns over the role of the FBI in the planning and preparation for this alleged conspiracy. As a criminal defense attorney, I have long been a critic of the degree to which the FBI often pushes defendants to take actions to trigger criminal charges. However, it is very difficult to make a case for entrapment and the agents know that.

While Whitmer doesn’t often discuss the case directly, she has blamed former President Trump for allegedly fomenting anger over coronavirus restrictions, which allegedly inspired the plot.

And don’t forget…this isn’t the first time…