FBI Agent Richard Trask OIDV Case:
Bodycam video shows takedown of FBI agent in Whitmer kidnap plot
WOOD TV8 News
Dec 19, 2021
"Do not turn your volume off on this case. OK? Keep it on the whole time."
Keep an eye on Agent Richard Trask's criminal case. I wouldn't be surprised if this is pled down under MCL769.4a - Michigan's Lautenberg Amendment/Domestic Violence Gun Ban Loophole for law enforcement and officials charged with any act of domestic violence less than murder. Trask is the lead FBI agent in the investigation of the Governor Whitmer kidnapping plot.
If Trask pleads under MCL 769.4a: 1) Stiffest punishment would be 12 months probation; 2) Conviction would be expunged at end of probation period; 3) Trask would be able to return to position with FBI as he would be allowed to use a firearm, despite DV conviction.
The FBI Said It Busted A Plot To Kidnap Michigan’s Governor. Then Things Got Complicated.
Buzz Feed
December 16, 2021
The case seemed like a lock — until an informant and one FBI agent were charged with crimes, another was accused of perjury, and a third was found promoting a private security firm. And that wasn’t all.
When federal officials announced, on Oct. 8, 2020, that they had foiled a plot by militant extremists to kidnap Michigan’s governor, it was quickly hailed as one of the most important domestic terrorism prosecutions in a generation. They didn't mention FBI agent Jayson Chambers by name, but those who had worked the case knew that his role helping to run a central informant had been crucial.
There was, however, something about Chambers that some colleagues might not have known: 18 months earlier, he’d incorporated a private security firm and had spent much of 2019 trying to drum up business — in part by touting his FBI casework. The bureau won’t say if Chambers had gotten permission to set up his new venture, as agents would be required to do, but just five days after BuzzFeed News revealed its existence this August, federal prosecutors announced that he would not be on the list of witnesses testifying in the upcoming trial.
A continuing BuzzFeed News investigation reveals new information about how Chambers' business, along with an array of issues involving other FBI agents and informants, has bedeviled the prosecution. Those issues may well affect the course of the trial. But beyond the integrity of the case, the problems are serious and widespread enough to call into question tactics the FBI has relied on for decades — and to test the public’s trust in the bureau overall.
That situation is complicated by the fact that the case has become a political lightning rod, with right-wing commentators calling it a prime example of government overreach. Some even baselessly assert that the Michigan investigation was a test run for what they claim was a false flag operation conducted on Jan. 6.
Meanwhile, the challenges facing the prosecution mount: A second FBI agent, who had served as the case’s public face, was charged with beating his wife when they returned home from a swingers party. He was fired soon thereafter. A third agent was accused of perjury. A state prosecutor in a related case was reassigned and then retired in the face of an audit into his prior use of informants.
And an informant whose work was crucial to the investigation was indicted on a gun charge and is now under investigation for fraud. Interviews, court records, and other documents reveal repeated instances of apparent lawbreaking by Stephen Robeson, who, while working with the government, identified and recruited potential targets in multiple states and who organized many of the events where prosecutors say the alleged kidnapping plan was hatched. Robeson’s apparent crimes took place under the nose of his FBI handlers.
The reporting also uncovers significant new details about how Jayson Chambers attempted to parlay his FBI work hunting for terrorists into a private moneymaking venture. The business, called Exeintel, sought contracts in some cases worth millions of dollars to help institutions identify violent threats. A Twitter account linked to Chambers’ business appeared on at least two occasions to be privy to the workings of Chambers’ ongoing FBI investigations before they were made public and to have tweeted about the Michigan case before arrests were made.
The Justice Department declined to comment for this article, citing the ongoing criminal case. The FBI also declined to comment. Chambers did not respond to a request for comment.
Defense attorneys, who have hired private investigators to look into the background and activities of the agents and informants in the case, will likely bring out all this and more to argue that the defendants were entrapped by an overzealous and compromised investigation.
The 14 men accused of involvement in the alleged plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer have been charged in three separate courts. Six people — Barry Croft, Ty Garbin, Daniel Harris, Adam Fox, Brandon Caserta, and Kaleb Franks — were indicted by a federal grand jury for kidnapping conspiracy, which carries a maximum penalty of life. Garbin eventually pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against the others. Eight more people were charged in Jackson and Antrim county courts with providing material support to terrorism, in cases being prosecuted by the Michigan attorney general. Many of the men were members of an armed extremist group called the Wolverine Watchmen, and on Monday a Michigan state judge will hold a hearing on a motion filed by three of them who claim they were the victims of entrapment.
The FBI has long relied on undercover agents and confidential informants — civilians, some of them paid for their service — to infiltrate closed groups, from the Black Panthers to the Weather Underground. Officially, these agents and informants are supposed to blend in and report back, not to directly steer the group’s actions — and certainly not to push them to commit crimes the groups would not otherwise have contemplated. But over the years, this approach has prompted many questions about the line between effective casework and entrapment. This was especially so during the years after 9/11, when numerous Muslim defendants, under scrutiny for links to terrorism, said that investigations had crossed a line. Defense attorneys and civil liberty champions raised concerns, but in general the public did not object.
Chambers worked on several such cases for the FBI involving young Muslim men who argued, without success, that they had been entrapped.
In the Michigan kidnapping case, at least a dozen confidential informants, as well as two or more undercover FBI agents, helped gather evidence against the 14 men who were charged. This time around, the defendants are not part of a stigmatized minority; they are white, working-class men from rural America — part of a large and vocal constituency that has a powerful hold on the nation’s politics. And their anti-government, pro–Second Amendment stance is one that millions of Americans share. Law enforcement tactics that have long been tolerated, and even celebrated, when used against marginal groups are getting a very different reception this time around.
“The whole story was a farce — insulting, really,” Tucker Carlson told his millions of viewers on his show in June. “Nearly half the gang of kidnappers were working for the FBI.”
When the Michigan kidnapping trial begins on March 8, federal prosecutors will have a mountain of evidence to draw from: hundreds of hours of clandestine recordings, as well as thousands of text messages and encrypted chats from militaristic training exercises, bomb-making sessions, and graphic discussions of violence against police and politicians.
The defendants built and detonated bombs, twice surveilled Whitmer’s vacation home, talked about trying and executing her, and practiced forcibly entering structures they called “kill houses."
At the center of much of that action was Stephen Robeson, an informant who had a long history of criminal behavior.
Robeson, a burly concrete and asphalt layer from Wisconsin, founded a branch of the anti-government group Three Percenters. But he also has a rap sheet stretching back to the early 1980s that includes fraud, assault, and sex with a minor — and a long and secret history of working as a confidential informant.
Robeson had first cooperated with local authorities on a motorcycle gang murder case in Wisconsin in the 1980s, and had done so on at least one other occasion in the 2000s.
Most recently, he was working for the FBI, identifying and recruiting potentially violent extremists on social media platforms. He urged people to attend gun rallies and other protest events, organized meetings in multiple states, and, some attendees say, used government funds to pay for their meals and hotel rooms. Prosecutors claim that one of those meetings, in Ohio in June 2020, was where the plot against Gov. Whitmer originated.
His involvement in the case now poses a challenge for prosecutors, both because of the lengths he went to shape the events in question and because of his own extensive and ongoing brushes with the law.
In one instance, he held court in a private room at a Delaware tavern said to have been a gathering place for the Founding Fathers, according to one attendee, who like many others interviewed for this article spoke on condition of anonymity out of concern that they could be charged with a crime, among other reasons. After dinner, Robeson ushered many of his guests to nearby hotel rooms, where he got them to vent their anger about governors who enacted COVID-19 restrictions, according to separate interviews with a half-dozen participants who attended.
He also urged people to plan violent actions against elected officials and to acquire weapons and bomb-making materials. Some of those contacts say he called them nearly every day.
But as busy as he was engaging with targets of the investigation, it turns out he was involved in a number of questionable activities on his own time.
In August 2020, as the FBI’s investigation in Michigan was heating up, Robeson allegedly convinced a Wisconsin couple to buy an SUV and donate it to a nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting human trafficking.
The problem was that the charity, “Race to Unite Races,” didn’t exist. Robeson, far from using the truck to save children, simply sold it and kept the cash, according to court records.
He also had a problem with guns. As a person convicted of multiple felonies, Robeson, 58, is not legally allowed to own a firearm, but on as many as five occasions, he allegedly bought, borrowed, handled, or fired guns ranging from pistols to AR-15 style rifles, according to court records and interviews with four people, including one person who observed him acquiring and handling two of the weapons.
In early March, federal prosecutors took the unusual step of securing an indictment against their own informant, accusing him of illegally buying a high-powered sniper rifle from a man he met at church and then reselling it for a profit. Robeson acquired the gun on Sept. 26, just 11 days before the FBI’s takedown in the kidnapping case.
Robeson testified that the FBI had given him some leeway to carry a gun if it helped him keep his cover, but he admitted he knew he wasn’t allowed to have the sniper rifle, and that he had “violated the rules and procedures” of his work with the FBI.
Federal prosecutors cut him a remarkable deal, given his prior record: no prison time, two years of probation, and a $100 fine. Judge William Conley warned him not to waste the opportunity. “Mr. Robeson, I’m not sure I’ve ever had anyone in front of me before who I need to emphasize this more than you: You’re under a set of terms of conditions for your supervised release,” he said. “If you’re ever in doubt, I would strongly advise you to contact your probation officer to make sure any conduct you’re engaged in is consistent with those requirements.”
Despite that advice, last month, his probation officer informed the court that Robeson had violated his probation. He had failed to mention that he had been questioned as part of a criminal investigation — which was recently referred to the district attorney’s office for fraud charges — into the SUV sale.
Robeson, who is due to be sentenced in early February, could not be reached for comment and his attorney did not respond to multiple requests on his behalf.
Even before Robeson was indicted on the gun charge, prosecutors appear to have gone to some lengths to keep his involvement out of the kidnapping case’s public record. The original charging papers, for example, cite a different informant who attended a June gathering of militants in Dublin, Ohio, but make no reference to the fact that Robeson had helped organize the event or that he was in the meetings as well.
As part of their trial strategy, defense attorneys in the kidnapping case plan to call Robeson as a witness. They say he can shine a light on what the government did to drag targets into the alleged plot and on the FBI’s conduct overall.
If that happens, his testimony could put prosecutors in the unusual and awkward position of having to discredit their own confidential informant.
It wasn’t just the informant who could present challenges to the case. Members of law enforcement who worked on the investigation, and a team attorney involved in prosecuting it, brought their own considerable baggage.
In May, Gregory Townsend, one of two assistant attorneys general overseeing the Michigan state prosecution, was abruptly taken off the case. Officials had launched an investigation into the use of jailhouse informants in at least one murder case he’d previously prosecuted. In September, the state vacated the murder conviction at the center of that investigation, of a man who was charged with starting a fire that killed five children.
Then came the domestic violence charge for the FBI agent who had been the public face of the case.
On July 18, special agent Richard Trask and his wife came home after a night out at a swingers party. According to a statement she made to local police, they had an argument that culminated with him choking her and bashing her head against a nightstand. Later that night, he was found in his wife’s car in a grocery store parking lot, where he was arrested and later charged with felony assault.
A longtime agent specializing in counterterrorism, Trask had been assigned to track the alleged ringleader of the Whitmer kidnapping conspiracy, Adam Fox. In October and January, he took the stand in federal court to argue that the defendants in the case should remain behind bars pending trial.
Prosecutors later divulged that Trask had also posted an obscenity-laden tirade against former president Donald Trump on his Facebook page.
It emerged in September that Trask’s employment with the FBI had been terminated. He is expected to enter a plea on the assault charge in state court on Monday. He declined to comment for this story.
Another agent on the case, Henrik Impola, testified for two days in state court earlier this year, noting that he was one of two investigators who handled the other principal informant, an Iraq war vet known as Dan. Even as Impola took the stand, defense attorneys were learning that he had been accused, in an unrelated case, of perjury.
According to a defense attorney on that case, Impola had lied on the witness stand about the circumstances of an interview he conducted with a suspect, and the suspect’s lawyer filed a letter of complaint with the FBI and the Justice Department. “Why has such a blatant violation of the Federal perjury statute by an eight-plus-year veteran of the FBI not been referred for prosecution,” the lawyer asked the FBI’s Office of Professional Responsibility in February 2020.
Impola referred a request for comment to the FBI, which declined to answer questions.
To date, the government has not responded to the perjury allegations. Three legal experts contacted by BuzzFeed News said that Impola’s actions, which concern statements about a search warrant affidavit, were far from composing a clear-cut case of perjury. Nevertheless, defense attorneys in the kidnapping case raised the issue in court and could do so before a jury during a trial, complicating any plans to put Impola on the stand.
The perjury allegation against Impola — however thin — and the assault charges against Trask could give defense attorneys a chance to undermine the jury’s confidence in the conduct and credibility of the FBI agents.
And then there was special agent Jayson Chambers and his side hustle.
Chambers helped to oversee Dan, the Iraq War vet who was a confidential informant in the case. Dan infiltrated the Wolverine Watchmen, rose to become the group’s second-in-command, and, under the direction of his FBI handlers, repeatedly encouraged its members to attend trainings and activities where violent schemes were allegedly concocted.
When his connection to Exeintel was revealed, defense attorneys claimed that Chambers may have “used the investigation to promote his company and its services.”
BuzzFeed News has found no evidence that Chambers planned to use the Michigan case in that capacity, but a review of emails and other documents shows he has trumpeted past investigations as a selling point for his services.
In the résumé he shared with potential clients, Chambers identifies himself as a counterterrorism specialist who has used “online undercover techniques” to investigate al-Qaeda, ISIS, Hamas, and other groups. In marketing materials distributed by Chambers, Exeintel is described as “a unique cyber-intelligence team” that uses “undercover online personas” and other methods to identify threats, including terrorism, for clients.
In a business proposal from November 2019, Chambers pitched security services with prices ranging as high as $6 million.
The FBI has declined to comment on Chambers or his company, Exeintel. But bureau policy generally prohibits agents from owning or operating businesses that may present a conflict of interest.
Beyond the potential conflict, Exeintel raises questions about Chambers’ operational security as an FBI agent — which is crucial to protecting the integrity of ongoing investigations.
The Twitter account @ravagiing, which identified itself as belonging to the CEO of Exeintel and linked to the company’s website, appears to have had advanced knowledge of — and tweeted about — sensitive information about two separate cases Chambers worked on.
In January 2019, three months before Chambers incorporated Exeintel LLC in New Mexico, that account crowed about a terrorism investigation involving a trio of Somali American men who were accused of providing material support to ISIS.
In the tweet, which was posted two days after the men were arrested, @ravagiing wrote that Exeintel “had been tracking this group since last year,” adding that the “agents handling this case are INCREDIBLE!”
The tweet included screenshots of what appear to be encrypted messages sent the prior October — when the case was still secret — in which two parties discuss two of the men who were later charged.
“Is this the other tango,” reads one message, using military slang for “target” and including a screenshot of one suspect’s Facebook page. Another message said yes and named one of the suspects while linking to the Facebook page for the man’s cousin.
The name of one of the participants in the chat was blurred by whoever posted the screenshot, but the other was listed as “Skai,” which is the screen name for the @ravagiing handle on Twitter.
Then the account began tweeting about Michigan.
On Sept. 24, 2020, just two weeks before the takedown, @ravagiing tweeted, “Soon….MICHIGAN Soon.” Then just hours before the Oct. 7 takedown, it tweeted again: “Don’t worry Michigan I told ya A LOT more coming soon.”
In response to a motion from the Whitmer kidnapping defendants that mentioned the tweets, Assistant US Attorney Nils Kessler wrote on Aug. 31 that “neither the FBI nor SA Chambers ever controlled the account” that posted them.
In response to questions directed to the @ravagiing account, someone who asked not to be named out of concern for his family’s privacy said in a statement that Chambers did not control the Twitter account and had no relationship to the company at the time that the Michigan case was unfolding. The statement also said that BuzzFeed News took @ravagiing’s Oct. 7 tweet about the Michigan case “out of context.”
Chambers started work at the FBI in 2010. In an email sent to a business associate in April 2019 and obtained by BuzzFeed News, he indicated that he planned to leave the bureau if his new business took off.
Over the following months, Chambers was in contact with potential clients for Exeintel, setting up meetings with executives for several different companies, emails, marketing materials, and business proposals reviewed by BuzzFeed News show.
The statement from Exeintel said that the company never got any business. Chambers stayed with the FBI, and in March 2020, he began work on what would become the Michigan kidnapping investigation.
That case carried over many of the tactics that were successfully used against young, disaffected Muslims in cases that Chambers had helped bring, at times over the strenuous objections of defense lawyers.
In one instance, a 21-year-old man in Detroit was approached online by two undercover operatives pretending to be Muslim women looking for love, one of whom repeatedly attempted to convince him to consider martyring himself in an act of terrorism.
In a second investigation, three young Somali American men were contacted on Facebook and other platforms by a series of people posing as ISIS recruiters, converts to Islam, individuals in Somalia, and flirtatious women, among other personas. After nearly two years, one of the men agreed to travel to Somalia using money provided by an undercover agent and was arrested at the airport.
All the men eventually pleaded guilty and received lengthy prison sentences.
Whether the government will be successful in the Whitmer case will depend not only on the strength of the evidence and how it plays before a heartland jury, but also whether the prosecution can withstand the questions raised by the conduct of so many people involved in making the case — and whether there could be more to come.
Amanda Keller, whose former fiancé, Adam Fox, is accused of leading the kidnapping plot, said she alluded to that possibility in an interview with an FBI agent this fall.
Keller, who attended some of the events organized by Robeson but has not been charged with any crimes, has been interviewed by the FBI numerous times since late last year. She said she mostly spoke to Impola and Trask, and once met with Chambers.
But when the FBI called her in again more recently, none of those agents were there.
After all the damaging material that had emerged about them, she said she asked the new agent sitting across the table — only half-kidding — “So what are we going to find out about you?”
FBI agent used anti-Trump profanity while investigating Whitmer kidnapping plot
The Detroit News
September 02, 2021
Federal prosecutors will not use testimony from one of the lead FBI agents in the Gov. Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping conspiracy case who was charged with beating his wife following a swingers party and who ranted about Donald Trump on social media, calling the president a douchebag and "piece of s---."
Prosecutors revealed the decision to drop FBI Special Agent Richard Trask from the high-profile case this week, said lawyer Michael Hills, who represents accused kidnap plotter Brandon Caserta of Canton Township. Hills divulged the decision during a hearing in federal court in Grand Rapids while pursuing evidence ahead of an October trial during which five men face various charges, including kidnapping and weapons of mass destruction conspiracies.
Hills also revealed that prosecutors this week gave defense lawyers social media posts from Trask, including one in which Trask used profanity to refer to Trump in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The March 28, 2020, post included a photo of Whitmer.
"If you still support our piece of s--- president you can f--- off," the post reads. "As someone whose wife works in the hospital I hope you burn in hell along with your douchebag f------ reality tv star. His ego is going to kill a lot of people and anyone who supports that is a dumbass. This is what you get when you elect an egotistica/narcissistic (sic) maniac to the top office. He needs people to be nice to him or he won't help. F--- you douche."
Trask is a key figure in the investigation but his July arrest has complicated one of the most closely watched cases of violent extremism that has increasingly focused on allegations of wrongdoing by investigators.
“They’re slicing him out,” Hills told U.S. Magistrate Judge Sally Berens during the hearing Thursday. “They’re not calling him.”
Defense lawyers, however, can pursue essentially subpoenaing him to testify during the trial.
An FBI spokeswoman has previously said that until finishing an internal review that Trask would not be working on any FBI matters.
Trask's employment status with the FBI has been unclear since his arrest. As part of his bond conditions, Trask is prohibited from possessing a gun, which legal experts have said precludes him from much of his job duties.
There are at least two other FBI agents in the Whitmer kidnapping case. Defense lawyers have attacked the conduct of one of those agents, FBI Special Agent Henrik Impola, who is captured on a recording talking about creating "disarray and chaos" for defense lawyers, whom he labeled "paid liars."
Berens on Thursday denied requests from defense lawyers to access FBI files on as many as 12 informants who helped thwart what the government described as an alleged plot to kidnap and harm Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Lawyers want information about the informants' qualifications and vetting, details about their performance, communications with agents and "instructions and admonishments they received."
The request came amid questions about agent misconduct and whether informants were driving the alleged conspiracy and suggesting crimes to be committed by five men awaiting trial in October.
Defense lawyers are contesting evidence gathered in a high-profile case that has focused attention on violent anti-government extremism in Michigan amid fallout from lockdown orders aimed at stemming the spread of COVID-19.
Caserta's lawyer suggested an FBI informant entrapped the men and has requested access to the informant's phone to determine the informant's role in encouraging the conspiracy and persuading others to commit crimes.
The request came amid a flurry of motions that provided a view into defense strategy that involves suppressing evidence, attacking the work of FBI agents and claiming FBI informants entrapped men accused in the conspiracy.
The magistrate Thursday said prosecutors already are required to disclose exculpatory and impeachment evidence. There is no reason to go beyond that requirement and give full access to phones used during the kidnapping conspiracy investigation, Berens said.
Kalamazoo-Area FBI Agent Waives Key Hearing In Alleged Assault On His Wife
CBS News - Detroit
September 2, 2021
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) — An FBI agent charged with assaulting his wife waived his right to a key hearing and moved the case to a trial court in Kalamazoo, records show.
Meanwhile, Richard Trask is not expected to testify as one of the lead agents who investigated an alleged plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. A trial for five men is scheduled in federal court in October.
“They’re slicing him out. They’re not calling him,” Michael Hills, a defense attorney in the federal case, told a judge Thursday, referring to prosecutors.
Trask was charged with assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder after a July incident at his home in the Kalamazoo area. Investigators said he beat his wife.
Trask on Tuesday waived his right to a hearing to determine whether there’s enough evidence to send the case to trial, according to online records.
“He’s spent his entire career protecting and serving his nation. He loves his family, his job, and loves this country. We’re not trying this case in the media,” Trask’s attorney, Sarissa Montague, said after an earlier hearing.
FBI agent waives key hearing in alleged assault on his wife
Detroit Free Press
September 02, 2021
KALAMAZOO — An FBI agent charged with assaulting his wife waived his right to a key hearing and moved the case to a trial court in Kalamazoo, records show.
Meanwhile, Richard Trask is not expected to testify as one of the lead agents who investigated an alleged plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. A trial for five men is scheduled in federal court in October.
“They’re slicing him out. They're not calling him," Michael Hills, a defense attorney in the federal case, told a judge Thursday, referring to prosecutors.
Trask was charged with assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder after a July incident at his home in the Kalamazoo area. Investigators said he beat his wife.
Trask on Tuesday waived his right to a hearing to determine whether there's enough evidence to send the case to trial, according to online records.
“He’s spent his entire career protecting and serving his nation. He loves his family, his job and loves this country. We’re not trying this case in the media," Trask's attorney, Sarissa Montague, said after an earlier hearing.
Kalamazoo-area FBI agent who investigated Whitmer kidnapping plot will stand trial for assault charges
WKZO AM/FM
Aug 31, 2021
KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – An FBI agent from the Kalamazoo area, who helped investigate the plot to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer, will stand trial for assault charges.
Previously, 39-year-old Richard Trask of Oshtemo Township was charged with one felony count of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder.
It stems from an incident involving his wife last July. Trask is said to have assaulted her by choking and smashing her head into a bedroom nightstand.
According to an update by MLive Tuesday, Trask has waived the preliminary examination, and will now be facing a jury trial.
A new trial date has not been set yet, but the charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
FBI agent charged in assault of wife headed toward jury trial
MLive
August 31, 2021
KALAMAZOO, MI – The FBI agent accused of assaulting his wife is headed toward a jury trial.
Richard Trask waived his preliminary examination Aug. 31 before Kalamazoo County District Court Judge Christopher Haenicke. Trask is charged with one felony charge of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder.
Trask’s case was sent to Kalamazoo County Circuit Court where a hearing will be scheduled at a later date.
The charge stems from an incident on July 18 at the home he shares with his wife in Oshtemo Township.
Trask is accused of assaulting his wife by smashing her head into a nightstand and choking her. When police arrived on scene, she had blood running down her head, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Trask joined the FBI in 2011 as a special agent, according to his LinkedIn page. He is the lead agent in the case against the people accused of plotting to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
In their bedroom at home, the wife was laying down when Trask got on top of her and grabbed the sides of her head, the affidavit said. Trask smashed her head into a nearby nightstand multiple times, the wife told police.
She then tried to grab Trask’s beard to get him off, but he started to choke her, the affidavit said. The woman told police she doesn’t think she lost consciousness.
The wife grabbed Trask’s testicles, which ended the fight, the affidavit said.
Court date delayed for FBI agent accused of assaulting wife
MLive
Aug 03, 2021
KALAMAZOO, MI – The next court date for the FBI agent charged with assault was delayed a month.
Richard Trask is charged with one felony charge of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder in Kalamazoo County District Court. The charge stems from an incident on July 18 at the home he shares with his wife in Oshtemo Township.
He had a preliminary examination Tuesday, Aug. 3. During an in-person hearing, the preliminary examination was adjourned to Aug. 31, in part, due to a necessary witness who was unable to be in court. The Kalamazoo County Prosecutor’s Office had no additional comment, Chief Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Scott Brower said.
Trask is accused of assaulting his wife by smashing her head into a nightstand and choking her. When police arrived on scene, she had blood running down her head, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Trask joined the FBI in 2011 as a special agent, according to his LinkedIn page. He is the lead agent in the case against the people accused of plotting to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
“Richard Trask is a very honorable man,” defense attorney Sarissa Montague said. “He has served this community for many, many, many years. He loves his family. He loves his job, and he loves his country.”
In their bedroom at home, the wife was laying down when Trask got on top of her and grabbed the sides of her head, the affidavit said. Trask smashed her head into a nearby nightstand multiple times, the wife told police.
She then tried to grab Trask’s beard to get him off, but he started to choke her, the affidavit said. The woman told police she doesn’t think she lost consciousness.
The wife grabbed Trask’s testicles, which ended the fight, the affidavit said.
Trask’s case should not be tried in the media, instead it needs to stay in the courtroom, Montague said.
“For now, I’m asking people to understand that this is a very difficult time for him and his family,” she said. “We’re asking that you give him privacy and his family privacy until this case is adjudicated.”
Attorney speaks after arraignment of FBI agent
FOX 17 News - West Michigan
August 03, 2021
KALAMAZOO, Mich. — The attorney of an FBI agent that was charged with assault last month has released a statement Tuesday afternoon.
"Richard Trask is an honorable man who has served his country throughout his entire career,” Attorney Sarissa Montague said. "He loves his family and career as a servant to our nation. Out of respect to all parties involved, we will not try this case in the court of public opinion."
Trask was reportedly given a $10,000 personal recognizance bond, which he posted.
Attorney for FBI agent charged with beating woman says he's 'a honorable man'
WWMT TV - News Channel 3
August 3rd 2021
FBI agent Richard Trask (right) declined to comment after leaving the Kalamazoo County Courthouse Aug. 3, 2021 (WWMT/Mike Krafcik)
FBI agent Richard Trask (right) declined to comment after leaving the Kalamazoo County Courthouse Aug. 3, 2021 (WWMT/Mike Krafcik)
FBI agent Richard Trask (pictured) covers his face as he leaves the Kalamazoo County Courthouse Aug. 3, 2021 (WWMT/Mike Krafcik)
FBI agent Richard Trask is charged with assault with intent to do harm after deputies said Trask beat a woman at his Oshtemo Township home July 18, 2021 (WWMT/Kalamazoo County Jail)
KALAMAZOO, Mich. — A FBI agent on the Gov. Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping case charged with assaulting a woman refused to answer questions as he left a Kalamazoo County courtroom Wednesday.
Richard Trask and his attorney did not questions on whether he will still be one of the lead FBI agents testifying against suspects accused of plotting to kidnap Whitmer. Trask appeared in Kalamazoo County District Court for a preliminary exam hearing, which was adjourned until Aug. 31.
FBI agent Richard Trask offered no comment as he left the Kalamazoo Court House
Trask is charged with assault with intent to do harm after Kalamazoo County deputies said Trask beat a woman at his home July 18.
Court records reveal Trask and a woman got into several arguments after leaving a swingers party at a Kalamazoo County hotel. Deputies said later that same night, Trask smashed the woman’s head into a nightstand several times and started to choke her at his Osthemo Township home.
Trask is one of the lead FBI agents testifying in federal and state court cases tied to the alleged plot to kidnap the governor.
Sarissa Montague, Trask's attorney, called the agent "an honorable man" as she read from a prepared statement outside court Wednesday.
"He’s spent his entire career protecting and serving his nation, he loves his family, his job and loves this country. We're not trying this case in the media, we're going to leave that for the courtroom. This is a difficult time for him and his family," said Montague.
Hearing delayed four weeks for key FBI agent in Whitmer kidnap case
The Detroit News
August 03, 2021
An evidentiary hearing for an assault charge against a key FBI agent in the alleged kidnapping plot against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was adjourned for about four weeks Tuesday.
A prosecutor told Kalamazoo County District Judge Richard Santoni that an officer involved in the case against Richard Trask was out of town and unavailable for the preliminary examination, a hearing held to determine whether there is enough evidence to send a case to trial.
Defense also mentioned there was a "non-participating complainant" in the case.
Santoni granted the adjournment of the preliminary examination, allowing for a four-week delay for the hearing.
Trask, 39, is accused of hitting his wife's head against a nightstand and choking her following an argument related to their attendance at a swingers' party. He was charged last month with assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder.
Court filings in his case indicate Trask's wife had bloody lacerations on the right side of her head and "blood all over chest, clothing arms and hand," as well as "severe" bruising to her neck and throat.
Trask, who was tracked down in the parking lot of a supermarket on Main Street in Oshtemo Township, refused to give a statement about the incident after he was read his Miranda rights, according to the affidavit.
An employee of the FBI since 2011, Trask served as the public face in the agency's investigation of an alleged attempt to kidnap Whitmer and testified in federal court in the case.
His arrest came as defense lawyers leveled a broad attack on the foundation of the high-profile case and suggested a second FBI agent was trying to sabotage defense teams. Defense attorneys appear to have adopted a strategy that targets in large part the work of FBI agents and claims that FBI informants entrapped men accused in the alleged kidnapping plot.
The defendants in the case have been portrayed by their attorneys as tough talkers who never carried out the planned kidnapping.
Undercover FBI Agent Richard Trask Assaults Wife and is Released On Bond
Robert Gruler Esq. Live
July 23, 2021
FBI agent Richard Trask appeared in Court facing criminal charges for assaulting his wife after a swinger’s party and we review the interplay with the Governor Whitmer kidnapping plot.
And more! Join criminal defense lawyer Robert F. Gruler in a discussion on the latest legal, criminal and political news, including:
🔵 FBI Agent Richard Trask II was in court facing charges of one count of felony assault.
🔵 According to an affidavit filed by the Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office, Trask allegedly smashed his wife’s head into a nightstand multiple times.
🔵 FBI agent Richard Trask was the same agent who authored the criminal complaint and affidavit against the alleged Whitmer kidnappers.
🔵 Trask, who has worked for the FBI since 2011 and is 39 years old, was upset after a swinger’s party.
🔵 Live chat after each segment at watchingthewatchers.locals.com!
FBI Agent Trask charged with assault to do great bodily harm
WDIV - Click On Detroit
July 22, 2021
Undercover FBI Agent Trask Assault
July 22, 2021
Robert Gruler Esq. Live
FBI agent Richard Trask appeared in Court facing criminal charges for assaulting his wife after a swinger’s party and we review the interplay with the Governor Whitmer kidnapping plot.
FBI agent in Gov. Whitmer kidnap bust accused of attacking wife: report
Richard Trask could face up to 10 years in prison for the assault
FOX News - Detroit
July 22, 2021
An FBI agent who worked the controversial investigation into the alleged plot to kill Michigan’s governor was arrested earlier this week for assaulting his wife after the two went to a swingers party, a local report said.
G-Man Richard Trask of Kalamazoo repeatedly slammed his wife’s head into a nightstand and choked her with both hands before she stopped the attack by grabbing his crotch on Sunday, The Detroit News reported, citing a court affidavit.
Trask’s wife’s chest, clothes and hand were covered in blood and she had "severe" bruises on around her neck, the affidavit reportedly said.
The two had come home after attending an Oshtempo Township hotel event the publication called "a swingers party." After some drinks, they argued on the way home about how Trask’s wife didn’t enjoy the party, the News stated.
Once home, he allegedly got on top of her in bed and "smashed" her head into the nightstand several times before she tried to grab his beard to get free, the affidavit said. That’s when he allegedly choked her, the News reported.
Trask, 39, was arrested Monday and was released on bond, the News said.
"In accordance with FBI policy, the incident is subject to internal review, and I cannot comment further at this time," FBI spokeswoman Mara Schneider told LawandCrime.com
He is facing up to 10 years in prison on a charge of assault with intent to do great bodily harm, according to the News.
Trask’s affidavit was used in charges against the people accused of plotting to kidnap and kill Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in retaliation of her COVID-19 shutdown orders, the Associated Press reported. Trask testified in the case, the AP said.
Some 14 people allegedly part of a group called the Wolverine Watchmen were charged in the plot, but the men have pushed back and said they were set up by the FBI because of their political views.
Lead FBI Agent on Whitmer Kidnapping Case Allegedly Beat Wife Until She Had ‘Blood All Over’ After Sex Party
Law And Crime
July 21st, 2021
A key FBI agent working on the investigation into the plot to kidnap and assassinate Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) has been accused of brutally attacking his wife after the couple attended a party where partners offer each other up for sex with friends or strangers.
Authorities reportedly allege the victim made it out of the beating with bloody cuts on the right side of her head as well as “blood all over chest, clothing arms and hand,” and “severe” bruises on her neck and throat.
FBI agent Richard Trask, 39, stands accused of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, according to Kalamazoo County Court records reviewed by Law&Crime.
An affidavit obtained by The Detroit News alleges that Trask and his wife argued about the swingers’ party on their way home because the FBI agent’s wife was not happy about how things went there.
The alleged victim told police that her husband–whom she said had multiple drinks at the party–jumped on top of her in their bed and “then grabbed the side of her head and smashed it several times on the nightstand,” as she tried to escape from him.
According to the affidavit, Trask’s wife initially grabbed at his beard to get free but he began choking her neck and throat in response to that defensive effort. The struggle eventually ended when she grabbed her husband’s testicles, according to investigators.
Trask then allegedly left their home in his wife’s car, the affidavit alleges. The wanted FBI agent was later arrested by Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s deputies in a supermarket parking lot in Oshtemo Township, Mich.–the same town where the couple lives.
The affidavit claims Trask refused to give police any sort of statement about the incident following his arrest. A lawyer has yet to be named or noticed in the case. The FBI agent faces up to 10 years in prison, if convicted.
“In accordance with FBI policy, the incident is subject to internal review, and I cannot comment further at this time,” FBI spokesperson Mara Schneider said in a statement.
The embarrassing episode comes at a key time for the numerous state and federal defendants in the alleged kidnapping plot–as a recent exposé by BuzzFeed News revealed the FBI was aware of the anti-Whitmer effort all along and engaged in activity that one defendant alleged to be entrapment.
Entrapment, however, is an oft-claimed and rarely successful defense in domestic terrorism cases–though such defenses occasionally do yield dividends for the accused.
One defense attorney working the case claims that the government has been intentionally withholding potentially exculpatory evidence of entrapment in violation of the law.
A legal expert noted the Trask case could be played up to the hilt by the numerous defense attorneys representing 13 of the 14 defendants who have pleaded not guilty.
“It’s the last thing you want for a major case like this,” Andrew Arena, former special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit office, told The Detroit News. “Any time you give the defense any ammunition, it’s not good.”
Trask has worked for the FBI since 2011 and authored the original federal criminal complaint filed against the alleged kidnappers. His job status with the nation’s largest law enforcement agency is currently unclear.
FBI agent in Whitmer kidnap case arrested following domestic incident
The Detroit News
July 19, 2021
The arrest of an FBI agent credited with helping thwart a plot to kidnap and kill Gov. Gretchen Whitmer complicates one of the most closely watched cases of violent extremism that is becoming increasingly focused on allegations of wrongdoing by investigators.
FBI Special Agent Richard Trask, 39, of Kalamazoo, was charged Monday with assault with intent to do great bodily harm, less than murder following a domestic incident with his wife Sunday. He was released on a $10,000 personal recognizance bond following an arraignment in 8th District Court in Kalamazoo and faces a charge punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
His arrest comes at a critical juncture in the criminal case against five men charged in federal court with plotting to kidnap Whitmer. Defense lawyers last week leveled a broad attack on the foundation of the high-profile case and suggested a second FBI agent was trying to sabotage defense teams.
Trask, 39, has worked for the FBI since 2011 and served as the FBI's public face in the Whitmer case, testifying in federal court about the investigation. He has worked on cases involving espionage, terrorism and domestic extremism investigations.
“It’s the last thing you want for a major case like this,” said Andrew Arena, former special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit office. “Any time you give the defense any ammunition it's not good.”
Details about the incident were not available. Trask did not respond to a message seeking comment Monday and there was no defense lawyer listed in court records.
FBI spokeswoman Mara Schneider said the bureau is cooperating with the prosecutor's office. Trask's job status was unclear Monday.
"In accordance with FBI policy, the incident is subject to internal review, and I cannot comment further at this time," she said in a statement.
That review would include an investigation by FBI internal affairs, Arena said.
“Depending on the severity, it could be a suspension until things are ironed out one way or another,” Arena said.
Aside from his FBI duties, Trask opened a gym at his rural property in Oshtemo Township near Kalamazoo and offers CrossFit training, according to social media posts and state business filings. He filed state paperwork for BCB Health & Wellness last year and maintains an active Instagram account showing him exercising, flexing and posing shirtless.
As part of his bond conditions, Trask is prohibited from possessing a firearm.
“If you can’t carry a weapon, then you’re not going to work as a street agent,” Arena said. “He’s going to be suspended or put on restricted duty.”
Trask was arrested one week after defense lawyers provided the clearest view of how they plan to attack the kidnapping plot case.
Court filings revealed a defense strategy that involves suppressing evidence, attacking the work of FBI agents and claiming FBI informants entrapped men accused in the conspiracy. Five men are awaiting an October trial in federal court in Grand Rapids, though one defendant has asked U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker to move the trial out of Michigan, arguing media conduct and coverage had "corrupted the potential trial atmosphere."
The arrest is the second potential problem in the case to emerge in recent months.
In March, prosecutors indicted an informant who sources say helped the FBI infiltrate the alleged conspiracy, a rare legal development. The indictment of Wisconsin resident Stephen Robeson after a prolonged period of cooperation suggests the relationship between Robeson and the FBI is destroyed and that prosecutors do not plan on using him at trial, legal experts said.
But defense lawyers can try to call him as a witness and attack Robeson's credibility.
Trask testified in federal court in January against Delaware resident Barry Croft, an accused plotter who is portrayed as the group’s bomb maker. Trask identified Croft as the national leader of the 3 Percenters, a small militia that participated in the Jan. 6 insurgence at the U.S. Capitol.
During the court hearing, Trask helped provide context about multiple undercover recordings that included Croft. At the time, prosecutors wanted Croft held without bond, saying he was a violent extremist.
Defense lawyers have portrayed their clients as tough talkers who were exercising their First Amendment rights who never carried out any kidnapping plot.
“Croft was saying he was granted permission from God to commit murder, correct?” Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler asked the FBI agent.
“Correct,” Trask said.
Trask would be expected to play a central role in an October trial of five men in federal court in Grand Rapids.
“In an investigation like this, you’re always trying to ensure you have more than one person who can testify about that piece of evidence,” Arena said. “So if something happens, you’ve got a backup.”
Defense lawyers have raised questions about the other lead investigator, FBI Special Agent Henrik Impola.
Impola came under defense scrutiny earlier this month after a lawyer for co-defendant Barry Croft suggested Impola was trying to sabotage defense teams.
Croft's lawyer Joshua Blanchard revealed the existence of a recording in which Impola discussed creating "disarray and chaos" for defense lawyers, whom he labeled "paid liars."
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