GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — The four men charged with planning to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer were swayed by informants and federal agents who targeted them for their anti-government views, defense attorneys said Wednesday, portraying the men as big talkers and wannabes who never meant what they said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Roth argued that the men were "willing, eager, if not already preparing" to get Whitmer before investigators infiltrated the group. He said the men — angry about COVID-19 restrictions the Democratic governor imposed early in the pandemic — recruited milit...