On Thursday, right-wing militia member Daniel Harris decided to take the witness stand to defend himself at his own trial after being accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. However, as he denied his role in the plot, he ended up admitting that he had actually wanted to kill her, The Daily Beast reports.
During cross-examination, Harris repeatedly answered “absolutely not” when asked whether he planned to kidnap Whitmer in October 2020, and claimed that FBI agents and a “double agent” informant are the ones who planned the conspiracy and entrapped him and other militia members into participating in the scheme.
But Harris’ “entrapment” defense appears to have failed, former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani said, noting that the far-right militia member did not refute other witness testimony or recordings played for jurors during the trial.
“You never know what a jury is going to do, but I think it was a risky move that will blow up in the defense’s face because Harris was not credible and his testimony was inconsistent with their other arguments,” Rahmani said.
“It was also inconsistent with the defense’s entrapment defense. On one hand, Harris argued that he just created an explosive device to blow up a stove and did not agree to kidnap the governor. On the other hand, his attorneys argued that [an FBI informant] was the ringleader who encouraged Harris to agree to things he had no propensity to do,” he added.
At one point during the trial, prosecutors pointed out those inconsistencies and then got Harris to admit that his plan was to actually murder the Democratic governor.
“You proposed doming her? Meaning, shooting her in the head,” U.S. Attorney Jonathan Roth asked Harris.
“Correct,” Harris replied.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
