President Trump’s new pardon attorney is promising to take a “hard look” at the idea of pardoning two men convicted in 2022 of scheming to kidnap the governor of Michigian, Gretchen Whitmer, during the Covid lockdowns. The FBI in 2020 engaged in an effort to infiltrate active militias in the state, eventually leading to the charges against the men, which many conservatives see as an example of entrapment. 

The pardon attorney, Ed Martin, recently served for several months as acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, though he had to resign from that position when there were not enough votes in the Senate to confirm him. 

After withdrawing the nomination, Mr. Trump then moved Mr. Martin to the Department of Justice’s main office, where he serves as pardon attorney and leads the new “Weaponization Working Group” set up to review the actions of federal law enforcement. Neither of those positions require Senate confirmation. 

During an interview with “The Breanna Morello Show,” Mr. Martin promised as pardon attorney to look into the prosecutions of the two men — Adam Fox and Barry Croft — who both received lengthy prison sentences for their roles in planning to kidnap Ms. Whitmer in 2020. 

“I think that the question of Michigan and what went on with this ‘fed-napping’ question is one that falls into two categories,” Mr. Martin told Ms. Morello. “One, I agree with you that there’s a weaponization of government — very, very suspect, the timing, how it was rolled out, what exactly went on, and we need to get to the bottom of that. Yes, that’s in my weaponization working group as a topic.”

Fox and Croft were accused by federal prosecutors of being the leaders of the plan to go after the Michigan governor, though 12 other men were charged with various crimes, with some being acquitted and others pleading guilty and getting lighter sentences.

During the course of both trials, the FBI admitted to using undercover agents and confidential informants in order to infiltrate the militia group responsible for the kidnapping scheme. Croft was later sentenced to more than 19 and a half years, while Croft was sentenced to 16 years in prison. 

A three-judge panel on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals later rejected Fox and Croft’s arguments that they were victims of entrapment, writing in their opinion that the jury had “heard a host of video and audio recordings of defendants promising violence, planning and participating in trainings, bringing their own weapons and material, and plotting the abduction without reluctance.”

Mr. Martin is not deterred by that finding, however. He told Ms. Morello that Fox and Croft are not unlike the defendants charged with crimes related to the January 6, 2021, storming of the Capitol. 

“On the pardon front, we can’t leave these guys behind,” Mr. Martin said of Fox and Croft. “In my opinion, these guys are victims just like January 6th [defendants].”

Mr. Martin says that his distrust of the FBI is driving his and his colleagues’ investigation of law enforcement’s role in advancing the kidnapping scheme. 

“The FBI was so unworthy of our trust, they were so dishonorable during … the Biden years,” Mr. Martin said. “There’s very little that I will take at face-value from the FBI.”

“I’ll get on it as quick as I can. I promise,” Mr. Martin told Ms. Morello of potential pardons or clemency for Fox and Croft.