"Violent Extremists" Planned To Kidnap Michigan Governor, Says DOJ

The NPR Politics Podcast

NPR

Politics, Daily News, News

4.5 • 24.9K Ratings

🗓️ 8 October 2020

⏱️ 15 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Conspirators began training for a potential attack on Whitmer's vacation home or the governor's official summer residence over the summer, according to a criminal complaint released Thursday. After abducting Whitmer, Fox allegedly said, the governor would be taken a secure location in Wisconsin for "trial," according to the complaint.

And, President Trump throws next debate into doubt and levies a bigoted attack against Kamala Harris.

This episode: campaign correspondent Asma Khalid, justice correspondent Ryan Lucas, national political correspondent Mara Liasson, and White House correspondent Ayesha Rascoe.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, my name's Ella and I just finished two hours of simultaneous own making and zoom studying.
0:06.9	This podcast was recorded at 2.27 pm Eastern time on Thursday, October 8th.
0:12.7	Things may have changed by the time you hear this, but I'll probably still be talking
0:15.9	to voters and studying the Federalist papers.
0:18.7	We had a multi-test.
0:22.7	And that's a good combination.
0:25.1	Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast.
0:27.9	I'm Asma Khalid, I cover the presidential campaign.
0:30.8	I'm Mara Liason, National Political Correspondent.
0:33.8	And I'm Ryan Lucas, I cover the Justice Department.
0:36.2	Six men are facing federal charges in this wild plot to kidnap the governor of Michigan,
0:41.9	Gretchen Whitmer.
0:43.1	The government is alleging that these men were driven by what they saw as the governor's
0:47.2	quote, unchecked power.
0:49.5	Andrew Birch is the US Attorney for the Western District of Michigan.
0:52.6	The federal complaint in this case alleges that the FBI began an investigation earlier
0:57.8	this year after becoming aware that through social media, that a group of individuals was
1:03.8	discussing the violent overthrow of certain government and law enforcement components.
1:09.6	Ryan, what should we know about this allegation?
1:12.0	The first thing I would say is that I called up a source of mind and just upon answering
1:16.6	the phone, the first words that I heard over the receiver was, this is crazy.
1:21.0	This is crazy.
	...

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