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President Donald Trump says he will consider pardoning the extremists convicted in the failed plot to kidnap Michigan’s Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2020.
“I’m going to look at it. I will take a look at it. It’s been brought to my attention,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Wednesday.
“I did watch the trial. It looked to me like somewhat of a railroad job, I’ll be honest with you. It looked to me like some people said some stupid things, you know, they were drinking, and I think they said some stupid things,” Trump continued.
Fourteen men were charged in the failed kidnapping plot, carried out on the eve of the 2020 election. Of those, nine were convicted, including Barry Croft Jr., 49, and Adam Fox, 42, the ringleaders of the scheme.
Croft was sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison, while Fox received 16 for the failed kidnapping plot, which involved taking the governor from her vacation home at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and starting a civil war.
Whitmer was never harmed in the incident, but the U.S. Justice Department’s new pardon attorney also said he would take a “hard look” at the two men serving the longest terms for the plot.
Whitmer’s office did not immediately respond to The Independent’s request for comment.
Whitmer has strayed from the path of Trump avoidance taken by most Democrats since November and has appeared alongside the president several times. The Democrat, who many consider a 2028 presidential contender, has now shared a stage with the Republican president in Michigan weeks after visiting the Oval Office – though both appearances seemingly caught her off guard at the time.
Trump started their Oval Office appearance, which seemed to catch Whitmer off-guard as she was there to talk about the impact of his tariff plan, by saying the governor was a "very good person" who has done an "excellent job"
She later told the Associated Press that she wasn’t thinking about politics: “My job is to do the right thing for the people of Michigan. I’m not thinking about anything beyond that, and I know it’s hard for people to get their head around.”
“I had to be there because this was a big, important thing for the state of Michigan,” she said. “Now, he is going to go off to the rally and say a lot of things I disagree with, that I’ll fight against, and that’s fine, but, you know, my job is to do everything I can for the people of Michigan.”
Meanwhile, Trump has issued some high-profile pardons in recent days, including pardoning imprisoned reality stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, whose show Chrisley Knows Best ran from 2014 to 2023.
The multimillionaire couple, who are also huge Trump supporters, are serving prison sentences after being convicted of tax evasion and bank fraud in 2022.
English (US) ·