Trump To ‘Look At’ Pardons For Men Imprisoned Over Whitmer Kidnapping Plot: ‘Railroad Job’

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he will “look at” issuing pardons for two men convicted of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2020.

Trump floated the potential pardons while taking questions from reporters in the Oval Office. The president said that he thought the two men – Barry Croft, 49, and Adam Fox, 42 – may have been “railroaded” by the FBI and prosecutors.

“I will take a look at it. It’s been brought to my attention. I did watch the trial. It looked to me like somewhat of a railroad job, I’ll be honest with you,” said Trump. “It looked to me like some people said some stupid things, you know. They were drinking, and I think they said stupid things, but I’ll take a look at that.”

“A lot of people are asking me that question from both sides, actually. A lot of people think they got railroaded. A lot of people think they got railroaded, and probably some people don’t,” he added.

Q: “Will you pardon the people who are accused of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer””

President Trump: “I will take a look at it. It’s been brought to my attention. I did watch the trial. It looked to me like somewhat of a railroad job.” pic.twitter.com/sO5dkFu5Vh

— CSPAN (@cspan) May 28, 2025

A jury convicted Croft and Fox in August of 2022 of conspiring to kidnap Whitmer and of conspiring to obtain a weapon of mass destruction. Croft was found guilty of an additional weapons charge.

Croft was sentenced to just under 20 years in prison with an additional five years of supervised release. Fox was sentenced to 16 years in prison with five years supervised release.

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The case against Croft and Fox was mired in controversy and embarrassment for the FBI. The two men were convicted on their second trial after the first ended in a mistrial. At the first trial, two other alleged co-conspirators, Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta, were acquitted after their attorneys argued that the FBI tactics used during the investigation amounted to entrapment.

Two other men, Ty Garbin and Kaleb Franks, had earlier pleaded guilty in connection with the conspiracy.

Much of the controversy around the FBI investigation into the plot to kidnap the governor revolved around two confidential human sources used by the FBI to gather evidence, Jenny Plunk and Steve Robeson. Both smoked marijuana with Croft during the investigation, a federal crime. Plunk also shared a hotel room with Croft at one point, raising further questions about the limits of the behavior of confidential human sources.

At one point during the investigation, the alleged conspiracists appeared to be headed for a split until FBI agent Christopher Long stepped in. Long directed Plunk to try to keep the group of men together.