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The F.B.I. and state authorities last week arrested 13 men in connection with a domestic terrorism plot directed against the first-term governor.
By Kathleen Gray and Lucy Tompkins
BAY CITY, Mich. — The fallout from a failed domestic terrorism plot to overthrow Michigan’s state government and kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has quickly become embedded in state politics and the presidential race in a key swing state during the final weeks of the campaign.
Ms. Whitmer, a Democrat who was targeted by an armed group whose alleged members have been arrested, said on Sunday that she remained worried about the presence of right-wing groups in her state, as well as President Trump’s reluctance to condemn them.
“I do believe that there are still serious threats that groups like this group, these domestic terrorists, are finding comfort and support in the rhetoric coming out of Republican leadership in the White House to our state house,” she said in an appearance on the CBS show “Face the Nation.”
Lee Chatfield, a Republican from northern Michigan and speaker of the state’s House of Representatives, sent a letter to Ms. Whitmer on Saturday, chastising her for not informing the Legislature about the plot, which included talk of storming the state Capitol.
“The plot by these terrorists was against us, too,” he wrote. “You knew, and we weren’t even given a warning. We had people working in the building every day doing essential work, and their lives matter, too.”
Mr. Chatfield also criticized the way she had spoken about the president and Republican leadership.
“It’s time to tone down the partisan rhetoric and turn the heat down as you’ve said. Will you do the same for President Trump?” he asked. “You’ve arguably been his biggest critic this year in the country. You even fundraised this week off this plot, now making it political, which is sad.”
But Mr. Trump also has been especially critical of Ms. Whitmer all year, derisively calling her “That Woman from Michigan” and “Half-Whitmer,” and urging supporters to “Liberate Michigan!” after protesters armed with military-style rifles criticized her policies for managing the pandemic. After the terror plot was revealed, he tweeted that Ms. Whitmer “has done a terrible job.” And he complained that instead of thanking him for the federal action in foiling the plot, “she calls me a White Supremacist.”
The F.B.I. and state authorities have arrested 13 men, including two ex-Marines, whom they accused of being involved in the plot, and charged them with a variety of crimes, including conspiring to commit kidnapping and providing material support to terrorist activities.
Through confidential informants and undercover agents, federal authorities detailed how some of the men had staked out Ms. Whitmer’s vacation home in northern Michigan and planned to detonate a bomb to divert law enforcement away from that home. The plot also targeted other elected officials and members of law enforcement.
Ms. Whitmer has drawn fierce criticism from anti-government and conservative groups for strict lockdown measures she imposed to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Most of the restrictions have been lifted, and the Michigan Supreme Court ruled last month that her use of the executive orders was unconstitutional. At least two of the men arrested had attended armed protests at the Capitol in April and May.
Michigan’s attorney general, Dana Nessel, said in a telephone interview Sunday afternoon that Ms. Whitmer had no obligation to tell others about the terror plot.
“This was a highly strategic operation with a lot of moving parts, and that would be up to law enforcement to inform people who needed to know. She received the information confidentially and had she done what he suggested, she could have jeopardized the lives of federal and state law enforcement agents,” she said of Mr. Chatfield’s letter. “One person talking to the wrong individual could have cost numerous law enforcement officers their lives.”
Legislative Republicans have denounced the terror plot, but some in the party have been highly critical of Ms. Whitmer because of how she handled the coronavirus pandemic in Michigan.
