Really Gov, you fell for his deception and allowed yourself to be manipulated for his benefit? Duh you! But I must confess you successfully deceived me into believing you were an intelligent and trustworthy woman. Duh me! From the Washington Post.....
Michigan Gov. Whitmer says Trump promised not to pardon kidnapping plotters
On Wednesday, Trump told reporters that he would “take a look at” pardoning the men, saying the trial looked “like somewhat of a railroad job.”
On Wednesday, Trump told reporters that he would “take a look at” pardoning the men, adding, “I did watch the trial. It looked to me like somewhat of a railroad job.”
Responding to Trump’s comments, Whitmer told Michigan Public Radio, “I talked to the president about a month ago and he asked me how I’d feel about this, and I said, ‘I think it would be the wrong decision.’
“And he said, ‘Okay, I’ll drop it,’” she added.
“When I talked to him before, we had a thoughtful conversation about it, and he said he’d drop it. So, I’m not sure what to make of this new revelation,” she said in Thursday’s interview.
The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Whitmer, who pointed out that she was one of the first politicians to condemn the assassination attempt Trump faced at a 2024 rally in Pennsylvania, said she would make her thoughts on the issue known to the White House over the weekend.
Federal and state officials originally charged multiple people in the plot against Whitmer, arresting the men in an October 2020 sting that involved the use of informants and undercover FBI agents. The officers embedded with the men, who were associates of a militia group known as the Wolverine Watchmen.
Among the six men who faced federal charges, two men — Ty Garbin and Kaleb Franks — pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors ahead of an initial trial. In that trial, the jury could not reach a unanimous decision on Croft and Fox but acquitted two other alleged co-conspirators, Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta. In a second federal trial, Croft and Fox were convicted on two charges of conspiracy — one related to the kidnapping scheme and another to obtain and use a weapon of mass destruction. Croft also was convicted on another explosives charge.
Prosecutors told jurors that Fox compiled a list of tools the group would need to carry out the kidnapping, including handcuffs and a hood to cover Whitmer’s head, and plotted where to place explosives to destroy the bridge near Whitmer’s home. Jurors saw video of Croft making explosives and heard testimony of how he believed God had given him permission to kill.
Jurors in the earlier federal trial seemed to agree, at least in part, with defense lawyers’ arguments that FBI agents entrapped the men in the violent plot, pointing to how one of the undercover federal operatives offered explosives to the men.
In the wake of the case, Whitmer repeatedly blamed Trump for stoking mistrust and anger over coronavirus restrictions and refusing to condemn extremists such as those implicated in the plot. But since Trump has retaken the presidency, she has been one of the rare Democratic politicians who has sought to build a working relationship with him.
Their partnership has yielded some results for Whitmer’s home state, such as a new fighter mission at Selfridge Air National Guard Base. But that effort to work together has also posed challenges for the potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, particularly in scenes with Trump in which she has seemed to be caught off guard.
During a speech at the base to announce the new mission, Trump praised the governor and then invited her to speak at the lectern to deliver remarks she said she was not planning to make.
“I am so, so grateful that this announcement was made today, and I appreciate all the work,” Whitmer said, without specifically praising Trump.
When she went to lobby Trump last month on Selfridge and other state-related issues, she found herself standing in the Oval Office while the president signed executive orders targeting his political opponents. The New York Times later published a photo showing her shielding her face from the camera. (Her office said she was invited into the Oval Office without knowing what Trump was about to do, and clarified that she did not endorse his actions by being there.)
During his second term, Trump has deployed pardons in a wide-reaching campaign to recalibrate a justice system he calls corrupt and says has politically persecuted him and those who support him. Shortly after being sworn in, Trump pardoned virtually all of the defendants convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and commuted the sentences of the remaining 14.
In front of a conservative crowd in 2022, Trump sought to connect the legal plight of the Jan. 6 rioters with the individuals who plotted to kidnap Whitmer, suggesting that the governor was never in danger.
“Just like those who instigated January 6th,” he said at the time, “it was a fake deal.”
Trump presidency
Follow live updates on the Trump administration. We’re tracking President Donald Trump’s progress on campaign promises and legal challenges to his executive orders and actions.
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Harvard feud: The Trump administration terminated $450 million in federal funding to Harvard University, the latest round in the battle between the administration and the Ivy League university. Harvard sued the Trump administration after it froze more than $2 billion in federal funding after the school refused to make sweeping changes to its governance, admissions and hiring practices.
Federal workers: The Trump administration continues to work to downsize the federal government, eliminating thousands of jobs at agencies including the Department of Health and Human Services, USAID, the IRS, the Social Security Administration, the Education Department, the Defense Department, the National Weather Service, and the National Park Service.
Holly Bailey, Perry Stein, Emily Davies and Patrick Svitek contributed to this report.
