In the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, the media and Democratic Party politicians have pointed to the 2020 scheme to abduct and assassinate Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer as evidence that political violence comes from both sides of the political spectrum.
News organizations routinely cite the plot in a timeline of recent incidents of political violence in this country; Whitmer herself mentioned the plan to “kidnap and kill me” in a video message posted on X last week while condemning Kirk’s murder.
But the two examples aren’t comparable, and not only because Gretchen Whitmer was never harmed – nor ever in any real danger. The big difference is that federal agents were involved in the very conceptualization of the plot against the governor – and in all the overt acts that led to criminal charges against an array of right-wing defendants.
The defendants’ lawyers believe – and they cite voluminous supporting evidence – that if the appeals in these cases ever reach the Supreme Court, the nine justices will learn details about one of the most brazen FBI entrapment operations in U.S. history. Moreover, the timing of the original arrests suggests to some government critics that the sting represents another instance of the FBI interfering in a presidential election to sabotage Donald Trump.
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