Trump says he will look at pardoning convicted Whitmer kidnap plotters
At a press conference, Donald Trump said he will look at pardoning the men convicted of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020.
DETROIT — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a radio interview that President Donald Trump had previously told her in the Oval Office he would not consider pardons for the men convicted of conspiring to kidnap her — a position he veered from this week, when he told reporters gathered in the White House that he would “take a look at it.”
Whitmer, speaking with Michigan Public Radio Network reporter Rick Pluta at the Detroit Regional Chamber Conference on Mackinac Island, said not condemning political violence “does a disservice to everyone.”
“I’ll be honest with you, I talked to the president about a month ago and he asked me how I’d feel about this and I said I think it would be the wrong decision, I would oppose it, and he said ‘Okay, I’ll drop it,'” Whitmer said in an interview for the Michigan Public Radio Network that aired May 29. “Now we see this revelation. So, I’m not sure how to process it.”
Whitmer added she would be reaching out to Trump, a Republican, over the weekend. She previously visited the Oval Office and earned Trump’s support for a new fighter mission at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, as well as for a facility designed to prevent invasive carp species from entering the Great Lakes.
Trump praised Whitmer, a Democrat, during the April visit, saying: “She’s really been doing an excellent job.”
Whitmer, who typically meets one-on-one with reporters at the conference, declined an interview request from the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network, through her office.
Trump: ‘It looked to me like somewhat of a railroad job’
Trump, speaking in the Oval Office on May 28, told reporters he was considering a pardon for the convicted plotters. In Aug. 2022, Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr. were convicted of conspiring to kidnap Whitmer in 2020 after being disgruntled with her government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s been brought to my attention. I did watch the trial. It looked to me like somewhat of a railroad job, I’ll be honest with you,” Trump said, of a potential pardon. “It looked to me like some people said some stupid things. You know, they were drinking, and I think they said stupid things.”
Whitmer noted the July assassination attempt on Trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, last year, saying leaders must condemn political violence regardless of party.
“I will just point out that when the man shot at the president when he was on the campaign trail in Pennsylvania, I was one of the first officeholders on either side of the aisle to condemn it,” Whitmer told Pluta. “Because anything short of condemnation creates a dangerous space for people that are sworn an oath to do the work of the public. We don’t take up arms and harm one another. And so, I’m going to make my thoughts on this known to the White House again. And I hope that it’s not an action that they take.”
‘No one should hesitate to condemn political violence’
During a Q&A session on the stage of the Mackinac Policy Conference, President and Chief Executive Officer of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Tricia Keith asked Whitmer about the possibility of the Trump pardons.
“Oh, what are you talking about?” Whitmer said. But after injecting some humor, she became serious.
“No one should hesitate to condemn political violence,” Whitmer said, adding that she hopes Trump doesn’t follow through on the pardons he floated.
Fox received a 16-year prison sentence, while Croft received a 19-year sentence after being convicted of an additional weapons charge. Both are currently serving their sentences at a maximum security federal prison in Colorado.
In April, a U.S. 6th Circuit of Appeals panel denied their request for a new trial.
Whitmer had previously condemned the kidnapping plot and called the convictions of Fox and Croft proof “that violence and threats have no place in our politics and those who seek to divide us will be held accountable.”
In total, 14 men were charged for their involvement with the plot. Prosecutors had mixed success across federal and state courts, landing nine convictions while five men were acquitted across state and federal courts.
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