FBI informants in the case of the alleged 2020 plot to kidnap Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer purportedly shared a hotel room and smoking weed with a target, the Detroit Free Press reported.
Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr. are undergoing retrial on charges of planning to kidnap Whitmer from her vacation home in 2020 in response to her COVID-19 restrictions. They and two others were originally acquitted in April, with their defense arguing the FBI entrapped them, The Associated Press reported.
Defense lawyer Joshua Blanchard cross-examined FBI Special Agent Christopher Long on Friday as part of the retrial, according to the Detroit Free Press.
FBI informants Jenny Plunk and Croft allegedly shared a hotel room in July 2020, Long confirmed to Blanchard, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Blanchard also alleged Plunk and informant Steve Robeson smoked weed with Croft.
FBI Special Agent Mark Schweers had said in the first trial that FBI sources outnumbered alleged kidnapping plotters at some meetings with them, according to Fox 17 West Michigan.
Plunk is said to have illegally sold the convicted felon Robeson a handgun during their time as informants, according to Fox 17 West Michigan .
Schweers testified after Long, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler questioning him about audio he recorded during the case, the outlet reported. In the recording, Croft reportedly told his around ten-year-old daughter he was “making explosives.”
U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker was told Thursday that one retrial juror allegedly said prior to the selection they “had already decided the case and intended to ensure a particular result at the conclusion of the trial,” according to a filing that the Detroit Free Press obtained.
Jonker ordered a jury clerk investigation on the issue, and the individual reportedly was still on the jury on Friday, the newspaper reported.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Free Press.
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