Michigan Gov. Whitmer says Trump promised not to pardon kidnapping plotters
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) said Thursday that President Donald Trump would be breaking a promise if he went through with pardoning the two men who were convicted of plotting to kidnap her, claiming that he pledged not to do so during a conversation last month.
In 2022, Barry Croft Jr. and Adam Fox were convicted of plotting to kidnap Whitmer in 2020 in one of the highest-profile domestic terrorism cases in recent memory. Prosecutors cast the men as violent anti-government extremists who planned to kidnap the governor from her vacation home over what they saw as overly restrictive covid pandemic policies, detonate a bridge to disrupt responding officers and ignite a civil war ahead of the 2020 election.
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 asked if she thinks Trump is serious about the potential pardons, Whitmer said that wasn't clear.
'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 — initially pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors ahead of an initial trial. In that initial 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 covid restrictions and refusing to condemn extremists like those implicated in the plot. But since Trump has retaken the presidency, she's 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 where 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.
'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.'
Holly Bailey, Perry Stein, Emily Davies and Patrick Svitek contributed to this report.
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