Five men accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer want charges DISMISSED because FBI 'invented conspiracy' and informants 'funded and agitated' the movement

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Five men associated with the far-right Wolverine Watchmen militia group have asked a judge to dismiss charges of plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer after claiming that the FBI fabricated the plan and tried to trap them in the conspiracy. 

Barry Croff, 44, Adam Fox, 40, Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris, 23, and Brandon Caserta were arrested on October 8, 2020 after allegedly hatched the plot because they were upset with Whitmer's COVID-19 restrictions. All five men are currently in custody.

According to a federal complaint, they planned to snatch Whitmer from her vacation home and secret her away in an undisclosed location.   

'The government initiated this case, despite the fact that it knew there was no plan to kidnap, no operational plan, and no details about how a kidnapping would occur or what would happen afterward,' defense lawyer Scott Graham wrote in his 20-page motion. 

The attorneys claimed in their December 25 filing that if it weren't for an FBI informant embedded with the group, known only as 'Dan', who encouraged the plot and promised to fund it through a charity organization, the men would never have done it on their own. 

There were 12 confidential informants involved in the investigation, who the lawyers say recruited, agitated and funded the movement. 

Men accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (from top left Kaleb Franks, Brandon Caserta, Adam Fox, bottom left Daniel Harris and Barry Croft) have pleaded not guilty and asked that the case be dismissed do to entrapment by the FBI.  Ty Garbin pleaded guilt to the plot.

Five alleged anti-government militia members who are suspected of plotting to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (seen above in Detroit on October 31

The men, who were allegedly associated with a far-right group called the Wolverine Watchmen, discussed the plot in secret meetings and in text messages. They also trained to carry out the plot, according to the FBI.

But defense attorneys say that the men were scraping by and had no money to travel to the governor's home to carry out the kidnapping.

'The evidence here demonstrates egregious overreaching by the government's agents, and by the informants those agents handled. When the government was faced with evidence showing that the defendants had no interest in a kidnapping plot, it refused to accept failure and continued to push its plan,' the lawyers for the men wrote in their motion to dismiss filed Saturday night. 

Further complicating prosecutors case was the arrest of the lead FBI investigator on the case Richard Trask, 39, who was convicted of a misdemeanor after hitting his wife after they returned from a swingers party one night, according to The Detroit News.  

One man, Ty Garbin, 25, has already pleaded guilty in the plot. 

Defense lawyers charge that an informant, identified only as 'Dan', egged them on to carry out the plot.  

'Dan, while often claiming poverty, always had the resources to drive, feed, and house others whom he hoped to pull into the government plan,' according to court records. 

Men were seen carrying out supposed tactical training exercise after exiting a PT Cruiser

In October, the US Attorney's Office released video and text messages which prosecutors say is evidence in their case against the six men who face federal conspiracy to kidnap charges against Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer

Dan apparently not only drove the accused plotters to militia-style training weekends in Wisconsin and Michigan, he paid for gas, tolls, meals and lodging. 

'So while the defendants had no interest in profit, a factor weighing in their favor here,' according to the motion to dismiss the case. 'The government’s exploitation of its virtually unlimited resources, poured into its investigation, further underscores entrapment as a matter of law.'

Dan, on the other hand, made $50,000 for his work ratting out the men, according to the defense team. 

Harris and Fox expressed that they were 'not cool with offensive kidnapping' the lawyers write.

When the men rejected the kidnapping plot, Dan proposed other property crimes.

The men have all pleaded not guilty. 

Federal prosecutors disagree and are pushing through with the case. The government alleged the men were upset over coronavirus restrictions when they conspired to kidnap Whitmer, a Democrat, even scouting her second home in northern Michigan.

'[The]Defendants were predisposed to join the kidnapping and explosive conspiracies, and therefore will not be able to prove entrapment,' Assistant US Attorney Nils Kessler.

Fox, the suspected ringleader, allegedly planned to storm the state Capitol and execute other politicians on live television