(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Barry Croft Jr., who was found guilty of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in late 2022 after his second trial, has filed a complaint from prison against the judge who wouldn’t let a jury learn about the unconstitutional actions of the FBI’s undercover informants and agents.
Croft’s complaint against U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker was mailed to the Judicial Council of the Sixth Circuit on Thursday by documentarian Christina Urso, who has been granted power of attorney for him.
Croft’s complaints include that Judge Jonker didn’t grant his lawyer’s request to subpoena the phone records of three FBI informants—Dan Chappel, Stephen Robeson and Jenny Plunk—even though they were working for the bureau before the alleged Whitmer kidnap plot was hatched. Croft also complained that Judge Jonker suppressed evidence that the FBI threatened Robeson into silence.
Read Barry's full complaint here (story below) https://t.co/YvNZuupMtB pic.twitter.com/iuGaSUhuYE
— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) December 20, 2024
The FBI’s threat on Robeson was made during a Dec. 10, 2020, interview with him, where agents seemingly attempted to silence him. The Intercept obtained audio of the interview and published a story about it in March.
“In an extraordinary five-hour conversation, which FBI agents recorded, one of Robeson’s handlers told him: ‘A saying we have in my office is, ‘Don’t let the facts get in the way of a good story,’ right?’ Despite federal and state trials involving the kidnapping plot, this recording — which goes to the heart of questions about whether the FBI entrapped the would-be kidnappers — was never allowed into evidence,” The Intercept reported in March.
“The FBI agents asked Robeson to sign a nondisclosure agreement and proceeded to coach and threaten him to shape his story and ensure that he would never testify before a jury … The agents also made it clear that they had leverage: They knew Robeson had committed crimes while working for the FBI.”
In her video about Croft’s complaint, Urso said it was important to document Jonker’s dubious decisions for the record. Whether the complaint will be successful is another matter. However, the Sixth Circuit is currently considering appeals filed by Croft and his fellow incarcerated defendant, Adam Fox, to toss their convictions and order new trials.
A decision on those appeals could be coming any day now. Meanwhile, Croft and Fox are being held in the notorious supermax prison in Florence, Colorado.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
