At least 12 confidential informants · 2 undercover FBI agents
Paid to be there.
Defense filings identified at least twelve confidential informants and two undercover FBI agents in and around the group, organizing it, funding it, and recording it. These are four of them.
CHS “Dan”
Dan Chappel
The de facto leader
An Iraq combat veteran recruited by the FBI. Officially the Wolverine Watchmen’s second-in-command, but with nominal leader Joe Morrison often absent, he ran the group in practice, acknowledged by its members as the man in charge.
Paid $54,000 between April and November 2020, plus a phone, a smartwatch, and a $4,307 laptop.his own cross-examination
Helped organize the field trainings and exchanged 3,236 texts with his FBI handler in under seven months.
CHS “Steve”
Steve Robeson
The organizer
“A felon with a criminal history spanning nine states,” recruited as an FBI informant.defense opening statement
Organized and paid for the June 2020 national militia meeting in Dublin, Ohio, and recorded it for the Bureau. Paid $19,328.79.defense filings
When the case unraveled, the government called its own informant a “double agent.”
UCE “Red”
SA Timothy Bates
The explosives man
An undercover FBI agent introduced as an old Army friend “with access to explosives.”
Showed the men a C-4 demonstration video, and admitted offering Adam Fox explosives on an “IOU.”Def. Ex. 2304
CHS “Jenny”
Jenny Plunk
The out-of-state executive
“Pretending to be the head of the militia — executive management of the Tennessee Three Percenters.”FBI agent trial testimony
Set up the “Michigan Patriot” Facebook page.
Ex. F: SMS extraction · SA Chambers ↔ CHS “Dan”Sat · Jun. 27, 2020 · the night before a field training exercise
SA Jayson Chambers, the FBI handler · 10:23 PM
You did a great job with both the leadership and adam today
Dan Chappel, the paid informant · 10:26 PM
Awesome. Building my resume
SA Chambers
#crushingit
“adam” is Adam Fox. Both texts verbatim from the extraction of the informant’s phone, filed as Def. Ex. F · USA v. Fox et al., ECF 666-6. The agent’s “#crushingit” reply: confirmed by Chappel on cross-examination, Michigan v. Morrison, Musico & Bellar, Oct. 14, 2022.
On the night drive to scout the governor’s lake house, three of the men in the car were working for the government. Barry Croft was the only one who wasn’t.
as established at trial · USA v. Fox et al.
Twelve informants is the floor, not the count: “at least 12 CHSs were identified” (defense motion, Jul. 12, 2021). Roles and payments as documented in trial testimony and defense filings.