It's only a matter of time before we learn how many "Big Dans" or Stephen Robesons were part of January 6.
By Julie Kelly | October 14, 2021
The tony, bucolic town of Dublin, Ohio would be one of the last places in America expected to host a convention of white supremacist militiamen. Nestled along the Scioto River, the Columbus suburb's biggest claim to fame is hosting the PGA's annual Memorial Golf tournament every summer.
But in June 2020, days after the nation was roiled by Black Lives Matter looting and rioting, a man from Wisconsin named Stephen Robeson sponsored a "National Militia Conference" at a Dublin hotel. (Yes, that was the real name of the event.)
According to BuzzFeed's exceptional July 2021 investigative report on the FBI-led plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2020, Robeson "helped organize the national meeting, and he was enthusiastically pushing people he knew to attend." The purpose of the conference was to recruit people who ultimately would stoke "political violence" against governors who refused to reopen their states after lockdowns supposedly necessitated by COVID.
Some participants said Robeson, known as "Robey," relentlessly pestered them until they agreed to show up; people came from as far as Maryland and Kansas City, BuzzFeed's Ken Bensinger and Jessica Garrison reported. One member of the Three Percenters, an alleged militia group on the FBI's naughty list, observed people taking photos from discreet locations in the hotel. "The feds are everywhere," he thought to himself.
Indeed. One of the feds was Robeson himself.
In a motion filed in July by a defense lawyer in the Whitmer kidnapping prosecution, Robeson is described as having a long record "of cooperating with the government in exchange for personal benefits. Basically, this [confidential human source] has a decades-long history of acting as a professional snitch for the government."
Robeson also—and there's nothing at all sketchy about this—founded the Wisconsin Patriot Three Percenters, BuzzFeed reported. Three Percenters, along with the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, are considered right-wing extremist militias by the FBI. Dozens of members from the three groups have been arrested and charged in connection with the January 6 protest at the Capitol.
But there's more to Robeson's background than just acting as government-paid flypaper to lure right-wingers to join a so-called "militia" group; he's compiled a rap sheet a mile long including sex with a minor, battery, car theft, insurance fraud, and forgery. And in 2020, this convicted felon was working for Christopher Wray's FBI to entrap alleged "militia men," presumably loyal to Donald Trump, to pull a stunt before the 2020 election.
Which is exactly what happened. In yet another example of the FBI interfering in a presidential election, Robeson and at least a dozen other FBI agents and informants orchestrated the shocking scheme—the feds paid for and organized "surveillance" trips as well as weapons training camps, all for the hidden cameras to capture on film—to produce major headlines as early voting was underway in the crucial swing state of Michigan.
Whitmer held a dramatic press conference the day the Justice Department announced the arrest of six men on federal conspiracy charges, blaming Trump for encouraging "domestic terrorists." Joe Biden weighed in, too. "There is a through line from President Trump's dog whistles and tolerance of hate, vengeance, and lawlessness to plots such as this one. He is giving oxygen to the bigotry and hate we see on the march in our country," he said on October 8, 2020.
Turns out, the "oxygen" that gave the plot life came from inside the house. BuzzFeed, after reviewing numerous court records and conducting interviews with those involved, concluded the FBI assets "had a hand in nearly every aspect of the alleged plot, starting with its inception." Without the FBI's involvement, it's unclear "whether there would have even been a conspiracy without them." For now, the federal trial has been delayed until next spring after defense counsel asked for a 90-day continuance to investigate misconduct by FBI agents and informants. (I reported on that here.)
It also appears that the Whitmer operation was only part of the FBI's overall plan to infiltrate and perhaps direct the conduct of unsuspecting "militia" men in 2020.
Operation Cold Snap, according to BuzzFeed, was an undercover "far-reaching, multi-state domestic terrorism investigation" to surveil—or more likely entrap, as defense lawyers in the Whitmer case now argue—people tied to the FBI's hit list of right-wing militias. The Justice Department vaguely referred to the operation in its press release announcing the arrests in the Whitmer case. "[The] FBI began an investigation earlier this year after becoming aware through social media that a group of individuals was discussing the violent overthrow of certain government and law enforcement components."
Please go to American Greatness to read more.
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