FBI agent in Whitmer kidnap plot arrested for assaulting wife after attending swingers party
Richard Trask, the lead federal investigator in the plot to kidnap and kill Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, has been arrested for assaulting his wife after an argument at a swingers party.
Trask’s wife’s chest, clothes, and hand were covered in blood, and she had “severe” bruises around her neck, according to the affidavit.
His wife told police that she and her husband had several drinks at a swingers’ party held at a nearby hotel room. She added that she did not like the party, and said they argued about it on the way home.
Once they arrived home, the argument turned physical. Trask got on top of her in their bed and “grabbed the side of her head and smashed it several times on the nightstand,” the affidavit says. After attempting to free herself by grabbing Trask’s beard, he choked her with both hands. She eventually was able to grab his testicles which ended the altercation. Trask then left the home in her vehicle.
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“That just goes to character and credibility,” said attorney Nicholas Somberg, whose client was involved in the kidnapping plot against the governor. “Look at the guys [the FBI is] hiring. They aren’t Boy Scouts, they aren’t clean-cut people. They are going to swingers’ parties and beating their wives – worse than my client ever did.”
“[Trask] was allowed a personal bond and allowed to walk out, where my client who committed no violence, got $10 million [bond],” Somberg said.
Somberg’s client, 26-year-old Joseph Morrison, was arrested and held on a $10 million bond for allegedly making a terrorist threat and hosting militia training in his home.
The attorney says FBI informants can be heard in the background of recorded phone calls pushing Adam Fox, the alleged ring leader of the plot, to train at his client’s home.
“He insisted on doing it with other FBI agents in the background telling him what to say,” Somberg said. “And this was after my client already told him, no, [Fox is] crazy, he’s a loose cannon, I don’t want to deal with him.”
This caused Somberg to file an entrapment motion at the state level.
“It came out that a dozen informants came out as well, how many informants do you need before it is actually [the agents’] plot?” he said. “And now you’ve become the criminal you are trying to stop.”
The charges against Trask are the last thing the prosecution would want for a case of this magnitude, according to Andy Arena, former head of the FBI office in Detroit. “Any time you give the defense any ammunition, it’s not good,” he said.
Part of Trask’s bond is that he is not permitted to carry a gun. “If you can’t carry a weapon, then you’re not going to work as a street agent,” Arena added. “He’s going to be suspended or put on restricted duty.”
“In accordance with FBI policy, the incident is subject to internal review, and I cannot comment further at this time,” Detroit FBI spokeswoman Mara Schneider said.