Key informant coming up in Michigan Gov. Whitmer kidnap plot trial

Jurors soon will hear from a pivotal informant who approached the FBI about a band of antigovernment extremists, a tip that eventually led to charges in an incredible plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Prosecutors signalled that the informant, known as “Big Dan,” will testify Friday in federal court in Grand Rapids, Michigan, after defence lawyers finish questioning an FBI agent.

Adam Fox, Barry Croft Jr., Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta are charged with conspiracy. Prosecutors say they turned their anger toward government in 2020 into a plot to kidnap Whitmer at her vacation home because of restrictions she imposed during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It won't be the first time that Dan has testified about his work for the FBI. In 2021, he appeared in state court in a separate but related case involving members of a militia, the Wolverine Watchmen, who are charged with assisting in the scheme.

Wearing a recording device, Dan talked to Fox, who is described as a leader of the plot, "nearly every day” for about four months until the FBI made arrests in October 2020, defence attorney Christopher Gibbons said in a February court filing.