28-05-2025
Trump says he will mull pardon in Whitmer kidnapping plot case
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — President Donald Trump says he will consider pardoning men who were convicted of plotting to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
'I'm going to look at it,' Trump told reporters when asked about the case Wednesday. 'I did watch the trial. It looked to me like somewhat of a railroad job, I'll be honest with you. It looked to me like some people said some stupid things. They were drinking and I think they said stupid things.'
He said 'a lot of people' from 'both sides' had asked him about a pardon.
'Actually, a lot of people think they got railroaded,' Trump said.
New DOJ attorney to review case for Whitmer co-conspirators
The U.S. Justice Department's new pardon attorney, Ed Martin Jr., said last week he would review the cases of Barry Croft Jr. and Adam Fox.
'On the pardon front, we can't leave these guys behind,' he said on the Breanna Morello Show. 'In my opinion, these are victims just like Jan. 6th.'
Trump has already pardoned 1,500 people for their crimes related to the Jan. 6. 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Investigators say Croft, of Delaware; Fox, of Grand Rapids; and other militia members were angry about Whitmer's orders aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus. As a result, investigators said, the group wanted to snatch her from her vacation home near Elk Rapids and blow up bridges to slow down the police chasing them. Investigators say the men held training exercises and tried to buy explosives — but the sellers were actually undercover FBI agents. The plot was busted in October 2020.
Croft and Fox were convicted in August 2022 at the conclusion of their second trial after the jury deadlocked the first time around. They were sentenced that December: in prison and .
Appeals court upholds convictions in Whitmer kidnapping plot
Croft and Fox appealed, but the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments they were entrapped by government informants and agents and upheld their convictions.
'Between Defendants' extremist group affiliations, threatening social media posts, and numerous self-incriminating private communications, it is evident that Defendants were ready and willing to commit these crimes long before being introduced to any government informants,' the court wrote earlier this year.
A total of 14 people were charged at either the state or federal level in connection to the plot. Of those, five were acquitted.
—News 8's Cameron James contributed to this report.
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