FBI Agent Richard Trask OIDV Case:
Trask Plea Bargain Under MCL 769.4a (any domestic violence offense less than murder):
Sec. 4a (4) Discharge and dismissal under this section shall MUST be without adjudication of guilt and is not a conviction for purposes of this section or for purposes of disqualifications or disabilities imposed by law upon conviction of a crime...
(5) Upon fulfillment of the terms and conditions, the court shall discharge the person and dismiss the proceedings against the person. Discharge and dismissal under this section must be without adjudication of guilt and is not a conviction for purposes of this section or for purposes of disqualifications or disabilities imposed by law upon conviction of a crime, but it is a prior conviction in a prosecution under sections 81(4) and (5) and 81a(3) of the Michigan penal code, 1931 PA 328, MCL 750.81 and 750.81a. There must be only 1 discharge and dismissal under this section with respect to any individual.
(8) As used in this section:
(a) "Assaultive crime" means 1 or more of the following:
(i) That term as defined in section 9a of chapter X.
(ii) A violation of chapter XI of the Michigan penal code, 1931 PA 328, MCL 750.81 to 750.90h.
(iii) A violation of a law of another state or of a local ordinance of a political subdivision of this state or of another state substantially corresponding to a violation described in subparagraph (i) or (ii).
(g) It shall be unlawful for any person—
(9) who has been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, to ship or transport in interstate or foreign commerce, or possess in or affecting commerce, any
firearm or ammunition...
*MCL 769.4a Lautenberg Loophole: "Discharge and dismissal under this section must be without adjudication of guilt and is not a conviction for purposes of this section or for purposes of disqualifications or disabilities imposed by law upon conviction of a crime.."
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."
Anti-Trump FB rant posted by FBI agent on Whitmer kidnapping case
WOOD TV8 News
Dec 19, 2021
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — One of the lead FBI agents on the federal kidnapping case involving Michigan’s governor didn’t just betray the badge off-duty, he also showed questionable judgment online by posting an obscenity-laden, anti-Trump tirade.
“If you still support our piece of s–t president you can f–k off,” began the 2020 post on Richard Trask’s personal Facebook page.
As Trask, 40, prepares to enter a plea Monday on charges he beat and choked his wife at their Kalamazoo County home, Target 8 investigators are revealing the contents of a vitriolic, Trump-bashing post on Trask’s personal Facebook page.
Target 8 has also obtained police body camera video of Trask’s July 18, 2021, arrest for allegedly assaulting his wife after they attended a swinger’s party at a Kalamazoo-area hotel.
Trask’s Facebook declaration blasting then-President Donald Trump was dated March 28, 2020.
At the time, the FBI was in the early stages of its investigation into the alleged plot to abduct Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat.
Trask played a central role in the case, which has since become one of the most politicized in Michigan’s history, with defense attorneys claiming the FBI orchestrated the abduction plan itself through its direction of confidential informants.
Federal prosecutors have argued in court documents that the defendants were predisposed to commit the crime, which the U.S. Department of Justice has described as “fatal to an entrapment defense.”
Trask, a former FBI agent who also coaches CrossFit, titled his 2020 diatribe against the former president “Toilet thought of the day,” a heading he used for other Facebook rants as well.
“As someone whose wife works in the hospital I hope you burn in hell along with your d—–bag f—–g reality tv star,” Trask wrote in the post. “His ego is going to kill a lot of people and anyone who supports that is a dumb–s. This is what you get when you elect an egotistical/narcissistic maniac to the top office. He needs people to be nice to him or he won’t help. F–k you, do–he.”
The tirade accompanied a link to a WWJ Newsradio story headlined “After Trump Attacks Whitmer, She Says Vendors Aren’t Sending Desperately Needed Coronavirus Supplies.”
Michael Zweiback, a former assistant U.S. attorney in California now practicing privately, told Target 8 Trask’s post would have caused him concern.
“I’m always worried about the optics because sometimes the optics can mean that there’s more going on here,” explained Zweiback in a Zoom interview with Target 8. “Then it becomes my responsibility as the federal prosecutor to investigate, to make sure that, ‘is this someone with just a big mouth, or is this someone who’s doing more than just spouting off on social media.’”
Zweiback said the Facebook post calls into question not only the judgment of the FBI agent, but also that of the entire FBI team on the case.
“You always have the best and brightest doing those types of cases, and so it puts a real question mark as to what was going on with the people who were supervising the investigation, number one at the highest levels, and then down the line,” Zweiback said. “What do we know about this agent? Were there other issues of misconduct that may have been in his background?”
The FBI, which fired Richard Trask in September 2021, declined comment for this report.
While some experts believe Trask’s Facebook post was ill-advised given his position, they told Target 8 it did not violate the Hatch Act, a federal law that restricts civil service employees from actively managing or participating in partisan political campaigns.
According to Michael Hills, a lawyer for one of the defendants in the alleged kidnap plot case, federal prosecutor Nils Kessler notified him of Trask’s Facebook post.
“Trask, as you know, signed off on the (criminal) complaint (and) testified in the preliminary examination in this case,” said Hills, according to a transcript of a September 2021 motion hearing.
“(Trask) was on multiple affidavits for search warrants, involved in interviews, and he, as this court knows….. was charged in state court with assault with intent to commit great bodily harm less than murder for his attack on his wife. Then, this week I get an email from… Mr. Kessler showing special agent Trask’s Facebook post, and he is —- I’ll spare the quotes, but he is using a lot of profanity and basically ranting,” reported Hills to the judge.
Target 8 questioned Trask about his Facebook posts as he left the Kalamazoo County Courthouse on Aug. 4 after an appearance related to his felony assault case.
Trask ignored reporters’ questions, walking straight to his vehicle and driving away.
His defense attorney, Sarissa Montague, made a statement to reporters outside the courthouse.
“Richard Trask is an honorable man who has served this community for many many years. He has spent his entire career protecting and serving this nation,” said Montague. “He loves his family. He loves his job, and he loves this country… This is a very very difficult time for him and for his family, and we are asking that while this case is pending, you give him privacy and you give his family privacy.”
Police body camera video, obtained by Target 8 through the Freedom of Information Act, documented Richard Trask’s arrest in the early morning hours of July 18, 2021.
Trask’s wife had called 911 around 2 a.m.
When deputies from the Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Department arrived at Trask’s Oshtemo Township home, the agent’s wife explained the couple had returned home from a swinger’s party she had not wanted to attend.
She told deputies she’d reluctantly agreed to check out the gathering because it was “date night.”
Trask’s wife said the couple argued upon their return home, and Trask grabbed her head and smashed it “multiple times” against a piece of furniture in the bedroom.
She said he then began choking her to the point where she thought she might lose consciousness.
But Trask’s wife told deputies she managed to break free by grabbing his beard and testicles, at which point she said her husband left the home in her vehicle.
“She’s got a pretty good laceration on the side of her head,” reported one of the responding deputies. “She’s got strangulation marks around her neck.”
There were two children in the home at the time of the alleged assault, a small child the couple shared and the domestic abuse survivor’s pre-teen son.
A colleague of Trask’s wife came and retrieved the children for the night.
At one point, Kalamazoo County Deputy Paul Kidd sought to reassure Trask’s wife, after she stated repeatedly that she was embarrassed.
“You are incredibly strong for the injuries you have,” said Kidd. “I can tell you’ve got a lot of will. Don’t be embarrassed. You’re handling this a lot better than a lot of people that we go to. You’re holding it in really well. You’re very composed. I know you’re in a lot of pain.”
Once in the ambulance, a medic noted Trask’s wife was “still bleeding pretty good out of her head.”
Meanwhile, deputies began trying to locate Trask, not knowing if the special agent was armed.
“Counter-terrorism. Yeah, he could be hiding anywhere,” commented one deputy.
Early on, one of the responding officers instructed another, “Do not turn your volume off. Keep it on the whole time,” referring to the deputy’s body-worn camera.
Trask’s wife said while they’d both been drinking, only her husband was intoxicated.
“She doesn’t know what he’s doing,” reported a deputy. “She’s texting him, but his location is off. He’s getting to that erratic state.”
Kidd called Trask’s cell phone multiple times.
“Hey Richard, it’s Deputy Kidd, Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Department. Just trying talk to you,” he said, leaving a message on Trask’s cell phone.
“Looks like you had an incident at your house tonight. Trying to get your side of the story,” Kidd said.
Two hours after deputies arrive at Trask’s home, someone spotted his wife’s vehicle in a shopping center parking lot.
A deputy tapped on the back passenger side window with his flashlight, slowly moving toward the driver’s side door.
A disheveled Richard Trask emerged slowly from the driver’s seat, wearing only shorts.
He had blood on his face, which appeared to be his wife’s.
“What is going on?” questioned a bleary-eyed Trask.
“What is going on?” he repeated, as a deputy turned him around and cuffed him.
“You got any weapons on you?” asked the deputy.
“No,” responded Trask.
“Where are your guns at?” questioned the deputy.
“At the house,” responded Trask.
The deputy read the FBI special agent his Miranda rights, and Trask declined to make a statement.
With Trask secured in the back of the squad car, the sheriff’s deputy informed him of the reason for his arrest.
“You’re being arrested for domestic violence. Aggravated domestic violence causing strangulation,” said the deputy.
Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting ultimately charged Trask with felony assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder.
If convicted, it’s punishable by up to ten years in prison.
Trask is scheduled for a plea hearing in the assault case in Kalamazoo County Circuit Court on Monday.
The defendants charged with conspiring to kidnap Whitmer are scheduled for federal trial in March.
Trask will not be testifying in the federal kidnapping case.
Fired FBI agent accepts plea deal, sentenced to 2 days time served for assaulting wife
WOOD TV8 News
Dec 20, 2021
A fired FBI agent who worked to investigate the plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has accepted a plea agreement for charges of assaulting his wife.
Ex-FBI agent speaks during his assault sentencing
MLive
Dec 20, 2021
Richard Trask II, a former FBI agent, speaks virtually in Kalamazoo County Circuit Court in Kalamazoo, Michigan on Monday, Dec. 20, 2021. Trask pleaded no contest to misdemeanor aggravated assault, he was originally charged with one felony count of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder that stemmed from a domestic violence incident that occurred in July.
Ex-FBI agent tied to Whitmer kidnapping investigation pleads to aggravated assault of wife
MLive
Dec. 20, 2021
KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MI – Through tears, a former FBI agent said he accepted full responsibility for assaulting his wife at their home earlier this year.
Richard James Trask II pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of aggravated assault in Kalamazoo County Circuit Court on Dec. 20. The plea came as part of a plea deal that reduced the charge from a felony charge of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder.
Trask, 40, assaulted his wife July 18 by choking her and hitting her head against a nightstand, injuries from which she needed staples to heal, according to the facts of the case agreed upon by Trask’s attorney Sarissa Montague and Kalamazoo County Assistant Prosecutor Mary Ann Berdan.
The assault happened at the couple’s home in Oshtemo Township.
Trask was a lead agent in the FBI’s case against the people accused of plotting to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, before he and the agency parted ways in September. The FBI declined to comment on the circumstances of Trask’s departure from the bureau.
Trask was sentenced to the amount of time he already spent in jail – two days – by Kalamazoo County Circuit Judge Gary Giguere Jr.
Berdan asked Giguere to rule that Trask could not obtain a law enforcement license in Michigan, but Giguere did not grant the request.
Trask has been going through individual and family counseling through his own choice, not through a court requirement, Montague said.
Trask and his wife had the same amount of alcoholic drinks the night of the assault, she said during a statement at the sentencing. He was also taking a prescription steroid at that time, she said.
She said she thinks Trask was drugged with GHB, commonly known as a date-rape drug, when they stopped at a party hosted at the Delta Hotels by Marriott property in Oshtemo Township.
“The eyes of the man staring back at me that night were not my husband’s eyes,” she said. “That reason alone is why I do not fear my husband. It simply wasn’t him.”
Trask said he does not remember the night of the assault, but takes full responsibility for his actions and the pain they have caused.
“Throughout my career of almost two decades, I have maintained a spotless record,” Trask said. “I’ve had an honorable career and I’m proud of that. I cannot take back what happened that night, but I can take solace in knowing that I was not myself.”
The wife did not cooperate with the prosecution, and said she did not think Trask should be convicted of any crime.
“This agreement was reached largely on her failure to cooperate with us,” Berdan said.
Trask joined the U.S. Air Force in spring 2001 and served in the Middle East during the War on Terror. He also worked as a military investigator. He joined the FBI in 2011 where he investigated domestic terrorism, counter-terrorism and counter-intelligence programs, including espionage, terrorism and domestic extremism, he said in court records.
“I’m not asking the court for forgiveness,” Trask said. “I’m asking for my family to not suffer further and prolong the effects of my mistakes. I will continue to try to serve my community and my family.”
Ex-FBI agent in Whitmer kidnap plot enters plea in case tied to wife's assault
The Detroit News
December 20, 2021
Former FBI Special Agent Richard Trask, the lead investigator in the Gov. Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping conspiracy case, pleaded no contest Monday to aggravated assault charges stemming from allegations he beat his wife in July after returning home from a swingers party.
Trask entered the plea to the misdemeanor offense before Kalamazoo County Circuit Judge Gary Giguere, court officials said. He was sentenced to time served and ordered to pay court costs.
Trask's attorney, Sarissa K. Montague, told The Detroit News after the hearing "this was a difficult situation for the family" and "we are looking forward to moving forward."
The Monday plea for Trask comes after he was fired from the FBI in September. Trask originally faced one count of assault with intent to do great bodily harm, less than murder, in connection with the incident. That charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
A no contest plea isn't an admission of guilt but is treated as such for the purposes of sentencing.
An affidavit filed in July by the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office in Kalamazoo County District Court said Trask's wife had bloody lacerations to 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 following the alleged incident.
The former special agent had worked for 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.
Trask, 39, of Kalamazoo, was the public face of the FBI in the Whitmer investigation. He testified in court proceedings for five men awaiting trial in federal court on a range of charges, including kidnapping and weapons of mass destruction conspiracies.
Prior to his September firing, prosecutors revealed they had decided not to use Trask as a witness during the trial. The decision was announced as they referred to social media posts in which Trask called former President Donald Trump a douchebag and "piece of s---."
Trask's July arrest came as defense lawyers started to reveal a trial strategy that involved suppressing evidence, attacking the work of FBI agents, and claiming FBI informants entrapped men accused in the conspiracy.
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.
Defense lawyers have portrayed their clients as tough talkers who were exercising their First Amendment rights who never carried out any kidnapping plot.
Fired FBI agent accepts plea deal, sentenced to 2 days time served for assaulting wife
WOOD TV News
December 20, 2021
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — A fired FBI agent who worked to investigate the plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has accepted a plea agreement for charges of assaulting his wife.
Richard Trask told the judge Monday he has no memory of the July assault but takes responsibility for what happened.
Trask pleaded no contest to a charge of aggravated assault and has agreed to never work in law enforcement in the state of Michigan.
The judge sentenced him to two days of time served, court fines and fees, and no probation.
Investigators say Trask had attended a swinger’s party with his wife at an Oshtemo Township hotel.
Prosecutors say he choked his wife and hit her head against the nightstand later that night, and that they made the plea agreement mainly because she refused to cooperate on the case.
Trask’s wife Heather Foulke spoke in his defense during the sentencing, saying she believes he had a reaction with alcohol and a prescription medication and may have been drugged with GHB at the party.
“I told the deputy that night that we left the party abruptly because something happened that I did not like. I told him my husband was acting weird. I also told him that I found it odd that over the course of that night my husband and I both consumed the same number of alcoholic beverages that strangely I was completely sober, but my husband was not,” Foulke said.
Trask spoke asking for leniency before the judge issued his sentence.
“As the result of the situation I’ve lost the only career I’ve known. My retirement is gone. I’ve lost friends. My reputation has been destroyed. My children have had to face questions. My wife has faced harassment. My family has had to further suffer because I can no longer provide for them,” Trask said.
He says his wife has forgiven him and he has sought counseling.
“The events in July were a tragedy. I take full responsibility for my actions which caused pain and suffering to my wife and to my family,” Trask said.
An FBI Agent In The Michigan Kidnapping Case Has Pleaded No Contest To Assaulting His Wife
Buzz Feed News
December 20, 2021
Richard Trask, who had been the public face of the high-profile investigation, was fired by the FBI following his July arrest. He is one of three agents in the Whitmer kidnapping case whom the government will no longer call as witnesses.
The FBI agent who was the public face of the investigation into the alleged plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer pleaded no contest Monday to a misdemeanor charge of assaulting his wife earlier this year.
Richard Trask, who was fired from the FBI after the July 18 incident, was sentenced to time served — two days in jail following his arrest in a grocery store parking lot after he fought with his wife in their home at the end of a night that featured a visit to a swingers party.
Trask’s wife, appearing in Kalamazoo County court via Zoom, read a statement in which she speculated that her husband might have been drugged with the date rape drug GHB at the party or had an adverse reaction to mixing prednisone and alcohol. “This man has served and protected you for the past 20 years and the prosecution has chosen to crucify him unnecessarily,” she told the judge.
In his own statement, also delivered via Zoom, Trask told the court, “I cannot recall any details of the night but I do take responsibility.” He added, “As a result of this situation, I’ve lost the only career I’ve ever known.”
Trask’s legal troubles are among many complications for federal prosecutors pursuing kidnapping conspiracy charges against five men accused of plotting to spirit Whitmer away from her vacation home last fall.
Trask was the agent who signed the affidavit that supported the men’s arrest on Oct. 7, 2020, and he later testified in federal court in favor of keeping the men locked up. Because he no longer works at the bureau, the government will no longer call on him to testify at the trial in the case, scheduled to begin March 8.
Two other FBI agents central to the case, Jayson Chambers and Henrik Impola, will also not be on the Justice Department’s witness lists. They were the handling agents for a key informant, known as “Dan,” who infiltrated an armed extremist group whose members developed the plot.
In August, federal prosecutors said that Chambers would not be a witness at trial. The announcement came five days after BuzzFeed News revealed that he had incorporated a security business in 2019 that was linked to an internet troll.
Then on Friday, prosecutors said that Impola, who has been accused of perjury in an unrelated case, would not be called either. Although prosecutors have denied that the allegations have substance, the issue came up again in Michigan state court on Monday, where a hearing had been scheduled to review claims of entrapment by three defendants in a case closely tied to the kidnapping plot.
In addition to the five federal defendants, a sixth pleaded guilty in January and agreed to cooperate with the prosecution. Eight additional men have been charged in Michigan state court for providing material support to terrorism, for a total of 14. Both federal and state prosecutors deny they entrapped the men. “We believe we have proof beyond a reasonable doubt of their guilt and will be presenting it at trial,” Assistant Attorney General John Pallas stated in Jackson County court Monday.
But defense attorney Andrew Kirkpatrick, who represents Paul Bellar in the state case, said that the impeachment allegations against Impola could undermine the government’s case. “His credibility is absolutely at issue with this court regarding any entrapment motions,” Kirkpatrick told Judge Thomas Wilson. He and attorneys for two other defendants said that in light of Friday’s news, Impola would not be a witness and they needed additional time to review information about the government’s internal inquiry into the perjury claim.
Kirkpatrick said he would subpoena the FBI for that information, and at his request, Jackson County judge Thomas Wilson granted an adjournment on the entrapment issue until late February.
Impola referred requests for comment last week to the FBI, which declined to comment.
In the same hearing, Wilson denied a motion by the Michigan attorney general to reinstate charges against Bellar and two other defendants of making terrorist threats. Those charges had been dismissed by a lower court in March.
Wilson similarly rejected a request by the defense to overrule the district court and dismiss all charges, while granting a request to reduce bond for Joseph Morrison, the founder of the organized militant group Wolverine Watchmen, to $5,000 from $150,000. Morrison is expected to be released before Christmas. He has been in jail for 438 days.
Ex-FBI agent who led Whitmer kidnapping plot investigation pleads no contest in assault of wife
Washington Examiner
December 21, 2021
The former lead investigator in the attempted kidnapping case of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer pleaded no contest to charges that he beat his wife.
Former FBI agent Richard Trask, who was the public face of the case before being fired from the bureau in July, entered the plea to a misdemeanor offense in Kalamazoo County's 9th Circuit Court on Monday, though the Detroit Times noted that it is not an admission of guilt but is treated as such for sentencing.
Judge Gary Giguere sentenced him to time served, after Trask got credit for two days in jail, and to pay court costs.
Trask, 39, was fired from the FBI in September after an affidavit in July described an alleged incident that left his wife bleeding heavily and with bruises around her neck. The beating allegedly took place at their home following a night out that may have included a swinger party.
In a statement to the court, Trask's wife said he may have been drugged with a date rape drug.
“This man has served and protected you for the past 20 years, and the prosecution has chosen to crucify him unnecessarily,” she said.
Trask said he cannot remember much about the night.
“I cannot recall any details of the night, but I do take responsibility,” he said. “As a result of this situation, I’ve lost the only career I’ve ever known.”
Federal prosecutors said before Trask was fired that they would not call on him to testify at the trial for the alleged Whitmer kidnapping plot conspirators after his anti-Trump social media posts came to light.
FBI agent and Whitmer kidnapping plot investigator pleads guilty to assaulting wife
FOX 2 News - Detroit
December 21, 2021
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - A lead investigator in the alleged plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer pleaded no contest Monday to assaulting his wife, though he said he has no memory of it.
Kalamazoo County prosecutors struck a deal with former FBI agent Richard Trask after his wife declined to cooperate further.
Trask was accused of assaulting his wife at their Kalamazoo-area home in July. She had lacerations on her head and blood on her chest, arms and hand, sheriff’s investigators wrote.
"I take full responsibility for my actions which caused pain and suffering to my wife and to my family," Trask said.
Heather Foulke said she told a sheriff’s deputy that they had left a hotel party because Trask was "acting weird." She believes he may have been drugged.
Trask got credit for two days in jail and will serve no additional time in custody. He lost his job with the FBI after the incident
