Latest news with #BarryCroftJr
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Trump Pardons: MSU expert on possible pardons of men who plotted to kidnap Gov. Whitmer
The Brief President Donald Trump teased the idea of pardoning two men who led the plot to kidnap Governor Whitmer. The President said, "I'm going to take a look at it." The attorneys for Croft Jr. and Fox said no comment. LANSING, Mich. (FOX 2) - President Donald Trump may use his pardoning power to possibly free the two men who led the plot to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer. What they're saying Trump teased the idea for the first time on Wednesday, mentioning it at a press conference in the Oval Office after being asked by a reporter. The President said, "I'm going to take a look at it," referring to the federal convictions. "This didn't come out of nowhere," Trump said, referring to the new appointee in charge of reviewing presidential pardon cases with the Department of Justice, who was already looking at the federal cases against Barry Croft Jr. and Adam Fox. The backstory Both men were convicted and sentenced on conspiracy charges for a foiled plot to kidnap Whitmer at her vacation home up north, which they allegedly planned in response to pandemic lockdown rules. Croft Jr. was sentenced to 19 years in prison, and Fox was sentenced to 16 years. Dig deeper Professor of Law at Michigan State University, Brian Kalt, spoke to FOX 2 about the President's pardoning power. "The pardon power is the most sort of kingly of all the powers that the President has," he said. "The process is really just the president signs a piece of paper and the person is pardoned." It usually comes with a recommendation from the Office of the Pardon Attorney. "There is a pattern emerging where President Trump is pardoning people who he perceives as being the victim of politically motivated prosecutions," Kalt said. For example, people were pardoned for their role in the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. There were seven other men affiliated with the group 'Wolverine Watchmen' who pleaded guilty or were convicted on charges connected to the governor kidnapping plot. Those were state charges, so they would not be eligible for a pardon. "The run-of-the-mill pardons are for guilty people who are being forgiven, but the President does have that power to use it to say you did nothing wrong," Kalt said. The other side The attorneys for Croft Jr. and Fox made no comment when FOX 2 reached out to them. They said it was too early in the process to say anything.
CBS News
24-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
US Justice Department pardon lawyer pledges 'hard look' at plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
The U.S. Justice Department's new pardon attorney said he is going to take a "hard look" at two men who are serving long prison terms for leading a conspiracy to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. "On the pardon front, we can't leave these guys behind," Ed Martin Jr. said this week on "The Breanna Morello Show." "In my opinion, these are victims just like January 6," Martin said, referring to 1,500 people pardoned by President Donald Trump for crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The arrests of Barry Croft Jr., Adam Fox and other anti-government extremists rocked the home stretch of the 2020 presidential election. Authorities said the cabal wanted to grab Whitmer, a Democrat, at her vacation home and start a civil war. Croft, 49, and Fox, 42, were portrayed as leaders of the scheme. They were convicted of conspiracy in federal court in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in August 2022. Croft, a trucker from Delaware, was also found guilty of a weapons charge. Croft was sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison, while Fox, a Grand Rapids man, got a 16-year term. They are being held at a prison in Colorado — the most secure in the federal system. An appeals court in April affirmed the convictions of both men after their lawyers argued that their right to pursue a vigorous entrapment defense was greatly diminished by the rulings of a trial judge in western Michigan, among other claims. Whitmer was never physically harmed. Martin called it a "fed-napping" plot, not a kidnapping plot, apparently referring to the numerous undercover FBI agents and informants who had infiltrated the group and built the case. He said it looked like the "weaponization of government." "I have complete confidence that we're going to get a hard look at it. The president will want to know the facts about it," Martin said, pledging to "get on it as quick as I can, I promise." An email sent by the Associated Press seeking comment from Whitmer's office wasn't immediately returned Friday. In 2020, she blamed Trump for stoking mistrust and fomenting anger over coronavirus restrictions and refusing to condemn right-wing extremists. Later, when he was out of office, Trump cast doubt on the kidnapping scheme, calling it a "fake deal." Federal and state authorities in 2020 charged 13 people, including Croft and Fox, in connection with separate plots to kidnap Whitmer over pandemic restrictions she imposed in the state. Note: The above video first aired on Aug. 23, 2022. contributed to this report.
