An attorney representing one of the men charged with plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has made the unusual move of requesting immunity for FBI agents and undercover informants involved in the case.
The FBI agents and sources were “intertwined in the alleged criminal activity” and have every reason to invoke their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination, Scott Graham, the attorney for defendant Kaleb Franks, said in a court filing. Graham requested that a federal judge compel the government to grant immunity to its agents and sources, whose testimony he said is “crucial” for the entrapment defense he plans to pursue during the March 8 trial.
The move comes after prosecutors confirmed in mid-December that they would not call on three FBI agents closely linked to the investigation due to allegations of personal and professional misconduct. Defense attorneys have also motioned to allow jurors to be shown more than 250 text messages and recordings of statements FBI agents, informants, and their defendants made during the investigation, which they say proves that the government “conceived and controlled every aspect” of the plot to kidnap Whitmer.
Also in December, a key FBI informant in the case who helped organize meetings and finance travel expenses for people to attend events linked to the kidnapping plot was charged with fraud in an unrelated case in Wisconsin. Prosecutors said in an early January court filing that the informant, Stephen Robeson, was a “double agent often working against the interests of the government.”
GRETCHEN WHITMER KIDNAPPING: CRACKS FORMING IN FEDERAL CASE
Prosecutors said that while Robeson served as their informant, he violated his agreement to avoid committing “unsanctioned crimes.” Specifically, prosecutors said Robeson used a charity under his control to purchase weapons and offered his drone to plotters to aid in acts of domestic terrorism. Prosecutors added that Robeson failed to record “pertinent conversations and events” during the investigation.
Robeson, who earned over $19,000 for his service as an informant in the case, was charged in December for using his charity to carry out fraud in an unrelated case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler said during a lengthy court hearing on Tuesday that the defendants shouldn’t be able to use Robeson’s actions during his service as an FBI informant to further their entrapment argument.
“It’s impossible to bind the United States with the statements of somebody like Steve Robeson, who they were actually saying internally wasn’t following directions,” Kessler said. “He wasn’t doing his master’s bidding in any sense.”
The five defendants in the case face life in prison if convicted. A sixth man, Ty Garbin, pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced in August to six years in prison.
Defense attorneys have also sought to include evidence in the trial related to a private investigative firm owned by FBI Special Agent Jayson Chambers during the time he served as a handler for informants during the Whitmer kidnapping investigation.
Chambers was dropped from the case after Buzzfeed reported he tried to parlay his law enforcement experience into multimillion-dollar private contracts for his now-shuttered firm, Exeintel, unbeknownst to the FBI.
A now-deleted Twitter account that purported to be operated by the CEO of Exeintel posted cryptic tweets that referred to the Whitmer kidnapping investigation before arrests were made in October 2020, BuzzFeed reported. Hours after arrests were made, the account tweeted: “Don’t worry Michigan I told ya A LOT more coming soon.”
Kessler, the assistant U.S. attorney, said at Tuesday’s hearing that the defense’s allegation that Chambers pursued the kidnapping investigation to make money through Exeintel was nothing more than unsupported innuendo meant to mislead the jury.
“They want to make this trial about agent Chambers,” Kessler said. “The fact that he might have looked for a job or put some other case on his resume … it doesn’t make it any more or less likely that these defendants conspired to commit kidnapping. The only reason to import this into the case is to mislead the jury.”
Defense attorneys countered by saying there is no question that Chambers was trying to make money through his company before arrests were made.
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Another FBI handler involved in the investigation, Henrik Impola, was dropped from the case after defense attorneys alleged he committed perjury in an unrelated case. Prosecutors claimed the allegation was unfounded, but in a Dec. 17 filing, they said they would not call on him during the trial.
The lead agent in the case, former FBI Special Agent Richard Trask, was fired from the agency in September after he was charged with beating his wife upon his return from a swingers party. Trask also posted rants against former President Donald Trump on social media during the investigation.
