There are more problems for prosecutors who are working on a case in which Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer allegedly was targeted for kidnapping: they have decided to drop the testimony of an FBI agent who was involved in the case.
The Washington Examiner documented that the move came after prosecutors gave lawyers defending several suspects in the case access to the social media posts of FBI agent Richard Trask.
He was revealed to have called Trump a “piece of s—” and otherwise generally ranted against Trump.
It was defense attorney Michael Hills, representing defendant Brandon Caserta, one of six people charged, who revealed during a court hearing Thursday prosecutors rejected Trask’s testimony for a trial expected in October.
“If you still support our piece of s*** president you can f*** off,” Trask wrote while the investigation still was under way. “As someone whose wife works in the hospital I hope you burn in hell along with your douchebag f****** reality tv star. His ego is going to kill a lot of people and anyone who supports that is a dumbass. This is what you get when you elect an egotistica/narcissistic (sic) maniac to the top office. He needs people to be nice to him or he won’t help. F*** you douche.”
The Examiner reported, “Trask’s involvement in the case had already been complicated after he was arrested in July for allegedly beating his wife during a dispute over a swingers’ party. Before his arrest, he gave testimony in court about his findings during the conspiracy investigation, and in an Oct. 6 affidavit, Trask swore to an account detailing what agents discovered.”
He claimed, of the defendants, “Several members talked about murdering ‘tyrants’ or ‘taking’ a sitting governor. The group decided they needed to increase their numbers and encouraged each other to talk to their neighbors and spread their message.”
The entire case, involving a variety of charges, further is muddied because there have been allegations that undercover FBI officers did much more than monitor what was going on, and that they actually instigated and planned it.
And there have been charges that an FBI agent told an informant to lie about another participant and to delete text messages to conceal the truth of the situation.
Reports have confirmed the FBI had a dozen informants in the case, including the second-in-command of the group accused of plotting a kidnapping.
An investigative report by Buzzfeed said FBI informants who infiltrated the group were “acting under the direction of the FBI” and “played a far larger role than has previously been reported.”
“Working in secret, they did more than just passively observe and report on the actions of the suspects. Instead, they had a hand in nearly every aspect of the alleged plot, starting with its inception. The extent of their involvement raises questions as to whether there would have even been a conspiracy without them,” the report said.
Byron York, in a commentary in the Washington Examiner, explained about a dozen men were arrested last October, individuals reportedly linked to Michigan militia organizations, and charged with “planning to grab Whitmer and put her on some sort of ‘trial,’ in part out of anger at her lockdown orders…”
A report at Mlive explains that a lawyer for one defendant is claiming the FBI went way too far in its “investigation.”
“Counsel has found further text messages between (special agent) Impola and Dan indicating Dan should destroy his text messages and instruct Dan to lie and accuse an innocent 3rd party of being a federal agent spy to the founder of Wolverine Watchmen,” the report says.
The lawyer explained that there’s a new “dark shadow” over the investigation because the FBI told its informant to “lie” and “delete texts.”
Hills, representing Caserta, asked a federal judge to order the government provide all communications between a paid informant, identified only as “Dan,” and the FBI, the report explained.
The lawyer wants to examine communication between informants as well as their conversations with the FBI, and also wants cellphone data of Dan and FBI special agents Henrik Impola and Jayson Chambers.
“These text messages indicate the F.B.I. was pushing their paid agent to actively recruit people into an overt act in furtherance of a conspiracy,” Hills charged.
“The F.B.I. is instructing a paid F.B.I. informant to lie and paint an innocent citizen as an undercover federal agent to a man they claim is the head of a domestic terrorist organization, who they claim is paranoid about being infiltrated by the feds, who they claim has bragged about tossing a Molotov cocktail into a police officer’s house,” Hills explained. “This behavior, evidenced by the telephonic communication between F.B.I. handler Impola and Dan, casts a dark shadow over the credibility of this investigation and demonstrates the need for immediate disclosure as demanded.”
Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].
SUPPORT TRUTHFUL JOURNALISM. MAKE A DONATION TO THE NONPROFIT WND NEWS CENTER. THANK YOU!
This article was originally published by the WND News Center.
