Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Tuesday that she spoke to President Donald Trump after he said last week he was considering potentially pardoning the men who plotted to kidnap her.
“I will just confirm that I have connected with the president directly on this subject and made my thoughts known,” Whitmer told reporters at an event in Detroit, according to her office.
“Beyond that, I’m not going to share more about our conversation but hopefully he’ll take some of those things into consideration when he makes a decision,” she said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed later Tuesday that Trump and Whitmer, a Democrat, had spoken. She declined to disclose any additional details about the conversation but said, “I will reiterate what he said publicly when he was asked by one of the journalists in this room in the Oval Office a couple of weeks ago about the pardons. He said it’s something he would look at, nothing more, nothing less.”
The president told reporters at a press event in the Oval Office that he would “take a look” at potential pardons for the men who were convicted in the kidnapping plot.
“I’m going to look at it. I will take a look at it. It’s been brought to my attention. I did watch the trial. It looked to me like somewhat of a railroad job,” he said after a reporter asked about it.
Whitmer, who has met with Trump in person multiple times this year, told NBC affiliate WOOD last week that she was “very disappointed” that he was considering it. “I’ll be making my thoughts known to the White House and I hope they take it into consideration,” she said.
Over a dozen men were initially charged in the kidnapping scheme, though not all of them were tried in federal court (Trump doesn’t have the power to intervene in state cases).
Barry Croft Jr., who prosecutors said was the ringleader, is currently serving a nearly 20-year sentence in federal prison. A key co-conspirator, Adam Fox, was given a 16-year prison sentence.
Whitmer, a potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender, has faced criticism from members of her party over her amicable relationship with the president.
Trump has continued to flex his pardoning powers in his second term, issuing pardons last week to former reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, former Rep. Michael Grimm, R-N.Y., among others.
