The biggest asset the FBI had in their investigation into the kidnapping plot of Governor Gretchen Whitmer took the stand in the retrial.
So far, the witnesses have been the same. FBI agents, undercover agents and now informants.
The first iteration of the trial really came down to the belief of the jury that entrapment was used. FBI informants having too much influence on the plot to kidnap Governor Whitmer and the biggest informant they had, Dan Chappel, known as Big Dan, took the stand Monday in the retrial.
“I’ve always been told that a trial is a search for the truth,” said Josh Blanchard, attorney for Barry Croft, “When we’re trying to figure out what actually happened.”
Chappel was a militia member who was so bothered by the talk and planning done by his fellow members, that he went to the police and became an informant for the FBI.
Monday he laid out his timeline and viewpoint from the witness stand.
“We don’t have the ability to put in our own client’s statement, that’s the way hearsay works,” said Blanchard, “We can only put in the things the other side says.”
With entrapment, and the work by Chappel, as the biggest influence on the trial, the defense is digging in, trying to shape the testimony.
“Last week we had a five hour meeting where they played 18 seconds from. I think today it was something like another 18 seconds out of four hours,” said Blanchard, “I mean, you’re losing a ton of context and they hold the keys to that.”
One of the first major events in the timeline was the rally at the Michigan State Capitol April 30, 2020. Chappel said there was a plan for the militias to storm the building and his heads up pushed the Michigan State Police to allow the protesters in without violence.
That was something new in this trial that wasn’t heard in the first, as the defense questions why the testimony has any variance.
There was also a short testimony from Croft’s longtime girlfriend, giving insight on Croft behind-the-scenes. How long he had these views, which stretched well before he ever met an FBI informant or COVID hit.
After the trial day outside, one of the two men that were acquitted in the first trial, Brandon Caserta could be seen coming up to Fox’s attorney Chris Gibbons and Blanchard and walking with them. It has still not been confirmed if Caserta could be taking a stand this time as a witness.
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