Closing arguments next in trial of 2 men in Whitmer plot

Jurors will hear closing arguments Monday in the retrial of two men charged with conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020.

Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr. declined to testify Friday as defense lawyers rested their case in federal court in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The government has portrayed Fox and Croft as leaders of a wild plan to snatch Whitmer at her vacation home in Elk Rapids, Michigan, and trigger chaos across the U.S.

Fox, Croft and their allies were furious about COVID-19 restrictions and generally disgusted by government, prosecutors say.

Defense lawyers, however, say Fox and Croft were a bumbling, foul-mouthed, marijuana-smoking pair exercising free speech and incapable of leading anything as extraordinary as an abduction of a public official. They say FBI agents and informants fed their outrage and pulled them into their web.

“It has FBI fingerprints all over it,” Christopher Gibbons said.

The jury heard secretly recorded conversations and read violent social media posts, some written before the FBI got involved. Two undercover agents and an informant testified for hours, explaining how the men trained in Wisconsin and Michigan and visited Elk Rapids to see Whitmer's home.

Other witnesses included Ty Garbin and Kaleb Franks, who pleaded guilty and insisted the group was not entrapped.

Fox and Croft are on trial for a second time after a jury in April couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict but acquitted two other men.

Croft, 46, is from Bear, Delaware. Fox, 39, was living in the basement of a vacuum shop in the Grand Rapids area.

Whitmer, a Democrat, has blamed then-President Donald Trump for stoking mistrust and fomenting anger over coronavirus restrictions and refusing to condemn hate groups and right-wing extremists like those charged in the plot.

She said Sunday that she hasn't been following the retrial, but that she remains concerned about “violent rhetoric in this country.”

"This is a dangerous trend that is happening. We cannot let it become normalized and I do hope that anyone that’s out there plotting to hurt their fellow Americans is held accountable,” Whitmer said at the Michigan Democratic Party's convention in Lansing.

Trump recently called the kidnapping plan a “fake deal.”

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Find the AP’s full coverage of the kidnapping plot trial: https://apnews.com/hub/whitmer-kidnap-plot-trial

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John Bolton was the target of Iranian murder plot in 'likely' retaliation for general's death: Prosecutors

The Justice Department on Wednesday unsealed charges against an Iranian national and member of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps whom prosecutors say allegedly tried to arrange the murder of Donald Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton in "likely" retaliation for the killing of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani when Trump was president.

The criminal complaint against 45-year-old Shahram Poursafi, who remains at large abroad, accuses him of attempting to pay various individuals in the U.S. $300,000 to kill Bolton, beginning in October.

Poursafi is charged with use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire and with providing and attempting to provide material support to a transnational murder plot.

In a statement after the case was unsealed Wednesday, Bolton said, in part: "I wish to thank the Justice Department for initiating the criminal proceeding unsealed today; the FBI for its diligence in discovering and tracking the Iranian regime’s criminal threat to American citizens; and the Secret Service for once again providing protection against Tehran’s efforts."

"While much cannot be said publicly right now, one point is indisputable: Iran’s rulers are liars, terrorists, and enemies of the United States. Their radical, anti-American objectives are unchanged; their commitments are worthless; and their global threat is growing," Bolton said.

The complaint and supporting law enforcement affidavit further allege how the Tehran-based Poursafi and the person he wanted to hire in the U.S. to arrange the killing -- identified by the FBI as a confidential human source -- conducted months of video and photo surveillance of Bolton at his home and office, in the Washington area, in late 2021 and early 2022.

According to the affidavit's timeline, on Oct. 22 Poursafi asked an unnamed U.S. resident to take photographs of Bolton while claiming it was for a book that Poursafi was writing. The resident later introduced Poursafi to the FBI's confidential source and Poursafi offered this person money to hire someone to "eliminate" Bolton, adding he had another "job" for which he would pay $1,000,000, the affidavit claims.

Investigators also said that Poursafi appeared to have private information about Bolton's routine and schedule, though the source of his information was not clear.

Shahram Poursafi is wanted for his alleged involvement in criminal activities to include material support to terrorism and the attempted murder for hire of a former high-ranking United States Government (USG) official.

FBI

At one point Poursafi allegedly suggested Bolton be killed by car or in the parking garage at his work and later said he should be shot -- either while he was alone or, if he was in a group, without harming anyone else -- the FBI said in the complaint affidavit.

The source whom Poursafi allegedly worked with told Poursafi they were working with a third individual who had ties to a cartel, the affidavit states.

The complaint affidavit also documents extensive communications between Poursafi and the confidential source. At one point, according to the complaint, he advised the source that killing someone "was like crossing the street; it was better not to spend too much time looking in one direction, but just to do it."

Poursafi also told the FBI's source that his “group” would require video confirmation of the target’s death, according to the affidavit. Poursafi repeatedly made further contact with the source, stating he was under pressure from his "group" or "his people" to have the killing carried out.

National Security Adviser John Bolton attends a meeting with President Donald Trump as he meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G-7 summit in Biarritz, France, Aug. 26, 2019.

Andrew Harnik/AP, FILE

In January, the FBI alleged in the affidavit, Poursafi told the source he had a second "job" once Bolton was killed and he suggested that someone working for the Revolutionary Guard Corps was conducting surveillance on an unnamed second target in the U.S.

"This is not the first time we have uncovered Iranian plots to exact revenge against individuals on U.S. soil and we will work tirelessly to expose and disrupt every one of these efforts," Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen said in a statement Wednesday.

In a statement later Wednesday, President Joe Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said: "The Biden Administration will not waiver in protecting and defending all Americans against threats of violence and terrorism. Should Iran attack any of our citizens, to include those who continue to serve the United States or those who formerly served, Iran will face severe consequences. We will continue to bring to bear the full resources of the U.S. Government to protect Americans."

ABC News' Adam Carlson, Sarah Kolinovsky and John Santucci contributed to this report.

Source https://www.globalcourant.com/john-bolton-was-the-target-of-iranian-murder-plot-in-likely-retaliation-for-generals-death-prosecutors/?feed_id=9201&_unique_id=62f4112099031

US charges Iranian man in alleged plot to kill ex-Trump adviser John Bolton

The US Justice Department launched a criminal complaint against Shahram Poursafi with plotting to murder Bolton in retaliation for the death of Iran's Qasem Soleimani.

The FBI on Wednesday released a most-wanted poster of Poursafi. (AP)

The United States has charged a member of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard Corps with plotting to murder John Bolton, a national security adviser to former President Donald Trump.

The Justice Department alleged on Wednesday that Shahram Poursafi, also known as Mehdi Rezayi, 45, of Tehran, was likely motivated to kill Bolton in retaliation for the death of Qasem Soleimani, a commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps killed in a US drone strike in January 2020.

Iran's mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Iran does not have an extradition treaty with the United States and Poursafi remains at large. The FBI on Wednesday released a most-wanted poster.

According to the criminal complaint, Poursafi asked a US resident identified only as "Individual A" to take photographs of Bolton, under the guise that the photos were needed for a forthcoming book.

The US resident then introduced Poursafi to a covert government informant who could take the photographs for a price.

Investigators said the following month Poursafi contacted the informant on an encrypted messaging application and offered the person $250,000 to hire someone to "eliminate" Bolton - an amount that would later be negotiated up to $300,000.

When the informant asked Poursafi to be more specific in his request, he said he wanted "the guy" purged and he provided Bolton's first and last name, according to a sworn statement in support of the complaint.

He later directed the informant to open a cryptocurrency account to facilitate the payment. 

In subsequent communications, he allegedly told the informant it did not matter how the killing was carried out, but that his "group" would require a video as proof that the deed was done.

READ MORE: Iran pledges revenge on US for Soleimani's death

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m23pywBTNQY[/embed]

Impact on nuclear deal talks?

In a statement on Twitter on Wednesday, Bolton thanked the Justice Department for taking action.

"While much cannot be said publicly right now, one point is indisputable," he said. 

The State Department had no immediate comment on whether the decision to charge Poursafi was in any way linked to US diplomacy seeking to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Indirect talks between the United States and Iran wrapped up in Vienna on Monday with European Union officials saying they had put forward a final text to resuscitate the agreement.

Under the agreement, Tehran has curbed its nuclear programme in return for relief from US, EU and UN economic sanctions.

Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal in 2018 and restored harsh US sanctions, prompting Tehran to start violating the agreement's nuclear limits about a year later, reviving fears Iran might be seeking to develop nuclear weapons – an ambition it denies.

READ MORE: Iran nuclear talks restart in Vienna as officials look to remove hurdles

Source: TRTWorld and agencies

Source https://www.globalcourant.com/us-charges-iranian-man-in-alleged-plot-to-kill-ex-trump-adviser-john-bolton/?feed_id=9166&_unique_id=62f3fab144ec8