(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Despite numerous dirty tricks by prosecutors and the FBI throughout a nearly three-week trial, three men accused of aiding the 2020 alleged militia plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer were each found not guilty on all counts Friday.
“Ladies and gentlemen in the gallery: As the court instructed everybody, there will be no outbursts,” Judge Charles Hamlyn said, hushing the raucous cheering in the courtroom.
“There will be plenty of time for that later.”
The defendants—brothers Michael and William Null, and their associate Eric Molitor—had an uphill battle at every turn, starting with Judge 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.
But 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 Thursday and only about an hour on Friday morning.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
