President Trump on Wednesday said he might pardon two men in prison for planning to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, suggesting the duo “got railroaded.”
“I did watch the trial. It looked to me like somewhat of a railroad job,” Mr. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “I’ll be honest with you, it looked to me like some people said some stupid things. You know, they were drinking and I think they said stupid things.”
“Actually, a lot of people think they got railroaded, and probably some people don’t,” he said.
When asked if he would pardon the men, Mr. Trump said, “I will take a look at it. It’s been brought to my attention.”
Ms. Whitmer’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from The Washington Times.
The arrests of Barry Croft Jr., Adam Fox and other anti-government extremists rocked the 2020 presidential election. Federal prosecutors said the two men led a conservative cabal that wanted to kidnap Ms. Whitmer at her vacation home and start a civil war.
Croft and Fox were portrayed as the ringleaders of the scheme. They were both convicted of conspiracy in federal court in Michigan in August 2022. Croft, a trucker from Delaware, was also found guilty on a weapons charge.
A federal judge sentenced Croft to 20 years in prison, while Fox, from Grand Rapids, Michigan, got a 16-year sentence. Both men are being held in a prison in Colorado, considered to be the most secure facility in the federal system.
An appeals court in April affirmed the convictions of both men after their lawyers argued that the trial judge hampered their ability to present an entrapment defense by barring the admission of certain evidence.
Ms. Whitmer was never physically harmed, and some conservative activists have pointed to the numerous undercover FBI agents and informants who infiltrated the group as a possible setup.
In 2020, Ms. Whitmer blamed Mr. Trump for stoking mistrust, fueling anger over COVID-19 restrictions and refusing to condemn right-wing extremists, which she said led to the kidnapping plot. The president has always cast doubt on the kidnapping scheme, calling it a “fake deal.”
Earlier this week, the Justice Department’s new pardon attorney, Ed Martin, said he was going to take a “hard look” at the case.
“On the pardon front, we can’t leave these guys behind,” he said on “The Breanna Morello Show.”
