Agent involved in Whitmer probe accused of assaulting wife

Posted at 1:01 PM, July 22, 2021 and last updated 7:57 PM, July 12, 2023

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) — An FBI agent whose affidavit supported the initial charges in an alleged plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is accused of assaulting his wife after returning home from a party.

Details were in a court filing accompanying the felony charge against Richard Trask, The Detroit News reported Wednesday.

Trask’s wife had lacerations on her head and blood on her chest, arms and hand, Kalamazoo County sheriff’s investigators wrote.

She ended the attack Sunday by grabbing Trask’s groin, investigators said.

Trask is charged with assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder. The FBI has declined to comment about his job status since Monday when he appeared in court and was released on bond.

A defense lawyer has not filed an appearance in the case, the clerk’s office said Wednesday.

Trask has testified and provided details about an alleged scheme to kidnap Whitmer last year in retaliation for her orders to slow the spread of the coronavirus. One man has pleaded guilty in federal court and roughly a dozen others are awaiting trial, some in state court.