Donald Trump & Mike Pence Should Be Investigated For Gretchen Whitmer Kidnapping Plot, Former FBI Agent Says
During an appearance on MSNBC on Thursday, former FBI agent Frank Figliuzzi told host Joy Reid that Donald Trump and Mike Pence should be investigated as part of the case of the failed plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
“If this were virtually anyone else, Joy, their name would be added to the subject line of the investigation,” he said. “They would be looked at for instigating violence, for aiding and abetting, for conspiring. There would be a serious sit-down, at the very least. And they’d be shown the dots that are connected between their rhetoric, their encouragement, and actual acting out violently.”
One of MSNBC's Alex Joneses in Frank Figliuzzi suggests Donald Trump and Mike Pence should have been investigated and included as co-conspirators in the plot to kidnap Gretchen Whitmer.
This is the same guy who says a group of bureaucrats should say who can run for President. pic.twitter.com/S0AzoVbYeP
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) October 8, 2020
Figliuzzi then highlighted Attorney General William Barr’s focus on the far-left protests and his alleged attempts to connect this violence to the brutality that comes from the right.
“That equivalency isn’t there,” he said.
The former FBI official continued to highlight Pence’s recent debate with Kamala Harris and his refusal to answer the question of what his role would be in the event that Trump refused to step down after a “certified election.” According to Figliuzzi, these comments are interpreted by violent extremist groups as tacit approval to “act out” if the Republican Party does not win in November.
Trump also received criticism from former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe for his purported role in the Whitmer plot. As The Inquisitr reported, McCabe appeared on CNN on Thursday and said that Trump is the person who bears the most responsibility for the plot and other similar bouts of violence that are surfacing across the country.
Both Whitmer and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden released statements the same day in which they condemned Trump for his purported failure to strongly denounce such extremism.
The president previously faced similar criticism when he did not offer a full-throated condemnation of the right-wing extremist group Proud Boys. Instead, his comments — which he later walked back — were interpreted by the group as tacit approval of their methods.
As reported by CBC News, 13 individuals have been arrested in connection with the kidnapping scheme. Six of the men face federal charges, while the other seven are to be charged under Michigan state laws.
Per Breitbart, one of the accused — Brandon Caserta — previously called Trump a “tyrant” in a resurfaced video. He also claimed that the head of state is “not your friend.”
“And it amazes me that people actually, like, believe that when he’s shown over and over and over again that he’s a tyrant.”
