Key Informant Defends His Role During Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Trial

Defense attorneys questioned an FBI informant Tuesday at the trial of two men accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan’s governor, questioning his motivation for joining a gang of anti-government extremists and the key steps he took to gather evidence.

Dan Chapel was grilled for hours as lawyers pressed their theme that any 2020 scheme targeting Gretchen Whitmer was fueled by agents and operatives, not pot-smoking mavericks Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr.

Known as “Big Dan,” Chappel was challenged over compensation (more than $50,000 in cash) and even a knee injury from military service in Iraq. Questions were repeatedly asked to show that he was receiving instructions from the FBI at critical times, especially a trip with Fox to explore Whitmer’s vacation home.

“I never expected anything” from the government, Chappel said in response to tense questions from attorney Joshua Blanchard about salary and a new laptop.

“I wanted to stop people from doing bad things to good people,” said Chappel, a 35-year-old truck driver who hauls mail.

Fox and Croft are on trial for the second time on conspiracy charges. A federal jury in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a unanimous verdict could not be reached in April, but acquitted two other men.

Prosecutors say Fox, 39, who lives in western Michigan, and Croft, 46, a truck driver from Bear, Delaware, wanted to trigger a national revolt by kidnapping the Democratic governor close to the presidential election. The government said disgust at the COVID-19 restrictions inspired them to make plans in 2020.

Chappel secretly recorded conversations with the men that summer and exchanged countless text messages. Fox’s attorney, Christopher Gibbons, wryly noted that Chappel sometimes expressed his support for the shooting at Whitmer’s vacation home.

“You said it would look like a hunting accident,” Gibbons said.

Chappel acknowledged that he also suggested a way to damage the front door of the house. He said that he needed to say certain things to maintain his position, but he was trying to smooth talk of a violent kidnapping.

Gibbons said that Chappel never urged Fox to choose legal ways beyond “domestic terrorism” to resolve his differences with the government.

“If I was going to do something like that, I wouldn’t have stayed in the group,” Chappel replied. “He said numerous times, ‘How many Novembers have we had? How many elections have we had?’”

Whitmer has blamed then-President Donald Trump for fueling mistrust and fomenting anger for coronavirus restrictions and refusing to condemn hate groups and right-wing extremists like those accused in the plot.

Trump recently called the kidnapping scheme a “phony deal.”

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Find full AP coverage of the Whitmer kidnapping plot trial at: https://apnews.com/hub/whitmer-kidnap-plot-trial

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