(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Two brothers who were falsely accused of being involved in the 2020 plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer are suing the FBI for manufacturing the case against them.
The brothers, Michael and William Null, were found not guilty in September 2023 of aiding the 2020 alleged militia plot to kidnap Whitmer. However, they say they’ve still suffered severe harm from the case—made worse by the fact that Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and many media outlets continue to attack them.
In their lawsuit, filed Tuesday in federal court, the Null brothers described how undercover FBI agents and informants fomented the Whitmer plot.
Take FBI informant Steve Robeson for example: “Robeson was a confidential human source from October 20, 2019, until October 27, 2020. The Bureau paid him $19,328.79. That money bought the Dublin, Ohio gathering on June 6, 2020, the Cambria, Wisconsin field training on July 10–12, 2020, and pizza, moonshine, and hotel rooms in Peebles, Ohio on July 18, 2020,” the lawsuit says.
“William Null was in Dublin because Robeson put him there. Both brothers were in Wisconsin because Robeson opened that door.”
The Null brothers also recounted the financial damage they suffered, including property damage and having their construction careers derailed.
“Doors were kicked in, drywall was removed, a car was run over by the government’s mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicle, MRAP, causing $18,000.00 in damage to Plaintiff’s car,” the lawsuit says. “Their business, Null Building and Remodeling, was destroyed by the brand ‘domestic terrorist.’”
Additionally, the lawsuit cites other egregious actions by the FBI, including one agent pointing a gun at Mike Null’s 13-year-old daughter, and a police officer threatening their grandpa to “put him down like a dog.”
Still one of my favorite videos of Eric and Null brothers being acquitted on kidnapping charges by a Michigan jury last September pic.twitter.com/G2tOxpnQUc
— Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 (@julie_kelly2) July 20, 2024
“The only terrorists in the courtroom were the government,” the lawsuit says.
The Null brothers aren’t just suing the FBI and an institution. They’ve also named individual agents involved, including Steven D’Antuono, Richard Trask, Henrik Impola, Mark Schweers, Timothy Bates, and Jayson Chambers. Nessel, the Michigan State Police, and several other local and state actors are also defendants in the case.
The Null brothers seek compensatory damages, attorneys’ fees and costs against the defendants, who have yet to respond in court.
Trial History
As Headline USA reported at the time, Null brothers and their co-defendant, Eric Molitor, had an uphill battle at every turn during their trial in 2023— starting with Judge Charles Hamlyn’s ruling that they couldn’t raise “entrapment” as a legal defense.
The prosecution also threatened convicted Whitmer conspiracy defendant Adam Fox from testifying for the defense. Fox presumably would have told the jury how he was manipulated into the plot by about a dozen undercover informants and agents.
However, state prosecutor Bill Rollstin and the FBI’s main witness, agent Henrik Impola, were frequently caught in lies and inconsistencies throughout the trial.
Rollstin started the trial by recycling already debunked info about the case, including that Fox was a plot “ringleader.” In fact, it was FBI informant Steve Robeson who made Adam Fox the head of Michigan’s chapter of the Three Percenters militia after a June 6, 2020, meeting in Dublin, Ohio—a meeting also set up by Robeson.
When Agent Impola was cross-examined, the probing questions of defense attorney William Barnett got him to admit that an FBI informant trained the men accused of plotting to kidnap Whitmer.
Barnett struck a crucial blow in the trial when he emphasized how improper it is for an FBI informant to train others for an alleged terrorist plot.
“How is it that you’re allowing your informant, who’s supposed to be a listening post, to train for an illegal purpose?” the defense attorney asked agent Impola.
“He’s basically training them for the crime we’re here for, isn’t he?”
But perhaps the most devastating point for the prosecution was when Impola was caught presenting doctored evidence to the jury.
Rollstin could be seen losing his composure amidst his collapsing case during closing arguments, when he exploded on a journalist just for standing up during his remarks.
“This individual right here was standing up and pointing and counting to the jurors, and taking notes,” Rollstin said, turning beet-red and jutting out his finger at reporter Christina Urso.
“That’s very concerning to me! I don’t know who she is or why she’s doing that. I’d ask the court to instruct her to not in any way try to intimidate this jury, to remain seated, and—like everyone else in this gallery—behave!” Rollstin shouted in impotent rage.
The jury’s deliberations lasted the full day before the Nulls and Molitor were exonerated on all counts.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
