It was two years ago when federal and state law enforcement officials in Michigan announced charges in a stunning plot. According to the allegations, a group of radicals conspired to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, bring the Democrat to a “secure location,” and subject her to a faux treason “trial.”
As regular readers may recall, Donald Trump responded to the news by immediately going on the offensive — not against the threat of domestic terrorism, but rather, against the governor. As recently as August, the former president declared at a far-right gathering, “[T]his thing they did involving Gretchen Whitmer was fake. Just like those who instigated Jan. 6. It was a fake deal. Fake. It was a fake deal.”
The legal process keeps suggesting otherwise. The Associated Press reported:
A judge on Thursday handed down the longest prison terms so far in the plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor, sentencing three men who forged an early alliance with a leader of the scheme before the FBI broke it up in 2020.
The sentences come two months after the initial conviction. In their case, jurors read and heard “violent, anti-government screeds as well as support for the ‘boogaloo,’ a civil war that might be triggered by a shocking abduction.”
Whitmer participated in the proceedings via video, urging the judge to “impose a sentence that meets the gravity of the damage they have done to our democracy.”
The recently re-elected Democrat went on to say, “A conspiracy to kidnap and kill a sitting governor of the state of Michigan is a threat to democracy itself,” before adding that she now scans crowds for threats and worries “about the fate of everyone near me.” Whitmer’s 2022 rival, Tudor Dixon turned the kidnapping plot into a joke on the campaign trail this year. “The sad thing is that Gretchen will tie your hands, put a gun to your head and ask if you are ready to talk. For someone so worried about getting kidnapped, Gretchen Whitmer sure is good at taking business hostage and holding it for ransom,” the Republican said at an event in September. Dixon lost by more than 10 points. She also recently bowed out of consideration for state GOP chair.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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