Lawyer: Man Charged in Whitmer Plot Swayed by FBI Informant

(Michigan Office of the Governor via AP File)

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) – A lawyer for one of the men charged with plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020 has told jurors he was a near-homeless, pot-smoking “misfit” who was influenced by an FBI informant whom he met at a protest.

Defense attorney Christopher Gibbons on Wednesday refuted a prosecutor’s claim that Adam Fox was a mastermind of the plot against the Democratic governor.

He said during opening statements in a federal courtroom in Grand Rapids, Michigan, that “Fox did not commit a crime in this case.”

Four men face trial: Fox, Brandon Caserta, Barry Croft Jr. and Daniel Harris. Prosecutors say the men came up with the plan to snatch Whitmer in 2020 because they were angry about pandemic restrictions.