Federal judge finds Whitmer plot case can move forward
In this photo provided by the Michigan Office of the Governor, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer holds up Senate Bill 757 in Lansing, Mich., Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2020.[AP/ Michigan Office of the Governor]
Prosecutors have provided enough evidence to move toward trial for five Michigan men accused of plotting to kidnap the state’s governor, a federal judge ruled Friday in Grand Rapids.
A two-day preliminary hearing this week featured testimony by one of the FBI agents who ran the investigation, relying on confidential informants and undercover agents to thwart the purported scheme.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Sally Berens is also set to consider Friday whether two of the men, Adam Fox and Ty Garbin, should be denied bond ahead of trial. Berens on Tuesday denied bond for three other men charged with planning to abduct Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
A sixth man, Barry Croft, was separately ordered on Tuesday to be transferred to Michigan from his home state of Delaware.
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