Tag: Special Agent Richard Trask

FBI Fires Lead Investigator in Whitmer Kidnapping Plot

Peter D'Abrosca

After an investigation into Special Agent Richard Trask, accused of beating his wife after the pair attended swingers’ party in July, the FBI agent who once lead the investigation into the plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) has been fired. 

“Trask was fired, according to a source familiar with his case, while awaiting trial on a charge of assault with intent to do great bodily harm and allegations he smashed his wife’s head against a nightstand and choked her after a dispute stemming from their attendance at a swingers’ party in July,” The Detroit News reported. 

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Prosecutors Claim Michigan Gov. Whitmer Kidnap Plotters Discussed Kidnapping Ohio Gov. DeWine

Peter D'Abrosca

Federal prosecutors now claim that the five men who allegedly plotted to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) also discussed doing the same to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R). 

“The DeWine connection to a high-profile federal criminal case involving alleged violent extremism has not been previously disclosed and reveals accused plotters discussed a broader, bipartisan attack on politicians from several states,” The Detroit News reported. “Prosecutors leveled the new allegation in a court filing Monday while fighting what has emerged as a central defense strategy that involves accusing the FBI of entrapment.”

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FBI Investigating Agent Who Allegedly Violently Assaulted Wife

Peter D'Abrosca

The lead investigator in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) case against more than a dozen men who allegedly plotted to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) has legal troubles of his own, as reported by The Detroit News. 

“An FBI agent at the center of the investigation into the plot to kidnap and kill Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is accused of smashing his wife’s head against a nightstand and choking her after a dispute stemming from their attendance at a swingers’ party, according to court records,” that news outlet reported this week. 

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Alleged Extremists in Michigan Gov. Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Claim FBI Set Them Up

The Center Square
Whitmer Kidnapping Suspects

Militiamen arrested for the alleged plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer claim the government set them up.

Court documents obtained by Buzzfeed show government informants played a crucial role in the kidnapping plot. One informant posed as a demolition expert who advised members of the Wolverine Watchmen militia where to plant explosives and even offered to get them as much as they needed. The informant was vouched for by another informant, leaving unclear how many confidential informants existed compared to actual extremists.

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FBI: Groups Also Discussed Kidnapping Virginia Governor

The Associated Press

Members of anti-government paramilitary groups discussed kidnapping Virginia’s governor during a June meeting in Ohio, an FBI agent testified Tuesday during a court hearing for a group of men accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan’s governor.

Special Agent Richard Trask also revealed new details about investigators’ use of confidential informants, undercover agents and encrypted communication to arrest and charge six men last week in the plot aimed at Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

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