Politics

Inside the F.B.I.’s Jan. 6 Investigation of the Proud Boys

Published

1 year ago

April 1, 2023

Inside the F.B.I.’s Jan. 6 Investigation of the Proud Boys

In March 2021, two months after the F.B.I. arrested Dominic Pezzola, a New York Proud Boy, on expenses stemming from the Capitol assault, one of many lead brokers on the case made an uncommon confession. On Lync, the bureau’s inside chat system, she stated she felt sorry for the person she had helped take into custody.

“Is it unhealthy i nearly form of really feel unhealthy for Pezzola?” the agent, Nicole Miller, requested considered one of her colleagues.

When the colleague advised her that Mr. Pezzola was in jail due to selections he had made, Agent Miller appeared to agree. However then, she snapped again into work mode.

“Oh no i do know that,” she wrote. “His choices put him the place he’s. Simply really feel for his children. Surprise if he’s going to cooperate although.”

This behind-the-scenes change, and a whole bunch prefer it, have been contained in a log of Agent Miller’s messages on Lync, monitoring her chats with different brokers from Jan. 6, 2021, when she was on obligation on the bureau’s Washington workplace, to September 2022, just a few months after she and her group helped carry sedition expenses in opposition to Mr. Pezzola and 4 different members of the Proud Boys.

The log, obtained by The New York Instances, offers a uncommon look into one of many Justice Division’s most necessary Jan. 6 investigations. It reveals how Agent Miller and her colleagues scrambled after proof and sought to recruit members of the far-right group all whereas making an attempt to coping with the chances and ends of life — all the things from squeezing in exercises to dealing with the bureau’s out of date know-how.

A few of the Lync messages emerged not too long ago when Agent Miller took the stand on the trial of Mr. Pezzola and his co-defendants — Enrique Tarrio, Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs and Zachary Rehl — which is now unfolding in Federal District Court docket in Washington. On cross-examination, the lads’s legal professionals sought to make use of the log to counsel that different brokers who chatted with Agent Miller had dedicated offenses like destroying proof or scrutinizing emails between one of many defendants and his lawyer in a violation of the attorney-client privilege.

A lawyer for Mr. Pezzola described the messages as proof of a “large path of F.B.I. corruption,” however Choose Timothy J. Kelly, who’s presiding on the trial, blasted that assertion, saying it was “unfounded hypothesis that has no place in a courtroom.”

Whereas the log obtained by The Instances is lacking a number of entries, it affords probably the most intensive portrait but of the F.B.I.’s inside communications as brokers investigated the sprawling Proud Boys case.

‘Dismantling Issues’

Agent Miller, a former Florida police officer, had been with the F.B.I. for lower than two years when the Capitol was overrun.

The messages present that she was shortly named to a “conspiracy squad” of brokers inspecting the roles that far-right teams just like the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers militia had performed within the assault.

The arrest of Mr. Pezzola and one other New York Proud Boy, William Pepe, helped Agent Miller construct an even bigger case in opposition to a number of of the folks now on trial: Mr. Rehl, who ran the group’s Philadelphia chapter; Mr. Nordean, the Seattle chapter’s so-called sergeant-at-arms; Mr. Biggs, a top-ranking Florida Proud Boy; and Charles Donohoe, a chapter president from North Carolina.

As early as March 3, 2021, Agent Miller and others within the bureau’s Washington workplace have been already discussing looking Mr. Rehl’s residence. A couple of days later, Agent Miller advised her colleagues that the bureau had gotten cellphone location knowledge on Mr. Rehl and was planning to take “the Rehl stuff” to a grand jury.

Across the similar time, she was juggling different duties.

Agent Miller was additionally organising a proper interview with a Proud Boy from New York and “studying backgrounds” on a number of different Proud Boys instances. In a separate matter, she was additionally engaged on a never-filed conspiracy indictment in opposition to the white nationalist Nick Fuentes and considered one of his allies, the far-right troll Anthime Gionet, higher recognized by his nickname Baked Alaska.

Her fellow brokers have been impressed. “Wow,” considered one of her colleagues within the Washington subject workplace wrote, “you’ve been in WFO for what, a 12 months? and you’re already dismantling issues.”

Urgent Ahead

After prosecutors obtained a conspiracy indictment in opposition to the Proud Boys leaders, Agent Miller pressed on with the case.

Within the spring of 2021, she and her group started inspecting Proud Boys chapters in St. Louis and the Hudson Valley in New York. Across the similar time, working with group chats obtained by way of their investigation, the group additionally recognized a Proud Boy in Pennsylvania, John C. Stewart, who later pleaded responsible to conspiracy expenses and cooperated with the federal government’s case.

Alongside the best way, the messages present, brokers stored in contact with their informants within the group. In April, one informant often known as “Omlette” advised his handlers that the Proud Boys would probably participate in an upcoming “White Lives Matter” rally. In June, one other informant, Kenneth Lizardo from Massachusetts, offered info for a search warrant. The messages point out different informants in Cleveland and Salt Lake Metropolis.

All through that 12 months, Agent Miller and her group have been additionally making an attempt to recruit new cooperators. One message means that Mr. Pezzola met with prosecutors in April 2021 for a proper interview often known as a proffer however didn’t find yourself cooperating with the federal government.

Nicholas Ochs, who ran the Proud Boys’ chapter in Hawaii and was charged with conspiracy one month after the Capitol assault, additionally met with prosecutors for a proffer interview within the fall of 2021. However the messages present the assembly didn’t go effectively both.

“Ochs didn’t provide us something,” Nicholas Hanak, one other agent on the case, wrote to Agent Miller.

“Yea,” Agent Hanak concluded, “no deal for him.”

‘Assist’

The breakneck tempo of the investigation was taking a toll.

By the summer season of 2021, Agent Miller was expressing fear to a colleague about dropping the comp time she had accrued. Different brokers complained about gaining weight, lacking household occasions and feeling overwhelmed by the avalanche of leads they needed to observe.

“Assist,” a colleague wrote to Agent Miller in July.

The group discovered solace the place they might. Colleagues usually requested Agent Miller if they might come go to her canine. Others talked in regards to the distractions to be present in Mexican meals and the TV present “Ted Lasso.”

In October, in a punchy change, considered one of Agent Miller’s colleagues stated she had been listening to Mr. Rehl combating together with his spouse — presumably on a monitored jailhouse line. Agent Miller puzzled if the jailed Proud Boy had found his spouse was dishonest on him, prompting the colleague to put in writing, “hahaha i’ll carry beer.”

In the identical dialog, the opposite agent stated she had learn a sequence of emails between Mr. Rehl and his lawyer on the time, Jonathon Moseley. The messages indicated that Mr. Rehl was planning to battle his expenses at trial — a undeniable fact that the opposite agent requested Agent Miller to not disclose to the prosecutors on the case, lest they “freak out.”

Mr. Rehl’s present lawyer, Carmen Hernandez, has accused the F.B.I. of violating her consumer’s rights by illegally taking a look at privileged communications together with his former lawyer. Prosecutors say Mr. Rehl had used a jailhouse e mail system that clearly acknowledged that each one of its messages have been monitored similar to the cellphone strains — a measure, they are saying, that amounted to a waiver of attorney-client privilege.

The Conspiracy Hurdle

As the primary anniversary of Jan. 6 got here and went, Agent Miller and her group continued to analyze new topics.

They started to concentrate on a bunch of Proud Boys who had been notably violent on the Capitol: Ronald Loehrke, who had been in contact with Mr. Nordean earlier than the assault befell; James Haffner, who had moved in tandem with Mr. Loehrke on Jan. 6; and two Proud Boys from Florida, A.J. Fischer and Zachary Johnson.

All 4 males have been in the end charged.

In February 2022, Agent Miller lastly caught a break in her investigation of considered one of her high targets: Enrique Tarrio, the previous chief of the Proud Boys. Firstly of the month, she advised a colleague that bureau technicians had extracted a Telegram group chat referred to as the “Ministry of Self-Protection” from Mr. Tarrio’s cellphone. Contributors within the chat performed a central position within the run-up to the Capitol assault and on the bottom on Jan. 6.

“It’s actually good,” Agent Miller wrote of the salvaged chat, including, “Enrique didn’t delete something.”

One thing else was on the cellphone, she stated: a “plan” that Mr. Tarrio and considered one of his girlfriends had “labored on.” That gave the impression to be a reference to a doc referred to as “1776 Returns,” which contained an in depth plan to surveil and storm authorities buildings across the Capitol on Jan. 6.

After calling Mr. Tarrio “an fool” for leaving such materials on his cellphone, Agent Miller’s colleague requested if the newly found info would “get us over the hurdle of the conspiracy cost?”

Agent Miller stated they might press ahead with a conspiracy case.

“We DEF can now,” she wrote.

One month later, Mr. Tarrio was arrested on an indictment charging him with conspiracy.

A Ultimate Break

There was yet one more huge break.

Two days after Mr. Tarrio was charged, considered one of Agent Miller’s colleagues wrote to say {that a} lawyer for Jeremy Bertino, a Proud Boy from North Carolina, had reached out, suggesting that his consumer was occupied with speaking to investigators. The F.B.I. had executed a search warrant at Mr. Bertino’s residence the day earlier than Mr. Tarrio’s arrest and found three AR-15-style rifles and a shotgun hidden behind a wall within the basement.

Agent Miller and her group ultimately decided that a number of the weapons have been unlicensed and could possibly be topic to a prison cost. The messages additionally present that brokers discovered a video of Mr. Tarrio chatting with Mr. Bertino whereas Mr. Bertino was at a capturing vary together with his spouse.

“We cant make these things up!!” Agent Miller wrote.

Over the subsequent a number of weeks, Mr. Bertino was interviewed a minimum of 3 times by prosecutors engaged on the case; and in October 2022, he formally pleaded responsible not solely to a gun cost, but in addition to seditious conspiracy.

In February, just a few weeks earlier than Agent Miller herself testified on the Proud Boys trial, Mr. Bertino took the stand as the federal government’s star witness.

Politics

Biden's 'privilege' claims sound like arguments Trump officials made before getting thrown in jail: attorney

Published

3 hours ago

May 19, 2024

Press Room

Biden's 'privilege' claims sound like arguments Trump officials made before getting thrown in jail: attorney

President Biden’s assertion of executive privilege to prevent recordings of his interviews with special counsel Robert Hur from being released shares some similarities with former President Trump’s attempts to use privilege while in the White House, according to one legal expert.

Though transcripts of Biden’s interview with Hur have already been released to a committee, the White House asserted executive privilege to block the audio recordings from becoming public while arguing in lockstep with Attorney General Merrick Garland that “law enforcement files like these need to be protected.”

“The same arguments were made during the Trump years as are being made now. It’s just that the roles are reversed,” former Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew McCarthy told Fox News Digital.

“For example, during the Mueller investigation, Trump made available Don McGahn, who was the White House counsel. They not only let Mueller interview McGahn at length, but McGahn took voluminous notes of his conversations with Trump, which they also turned over. And then Democrats wanted to subpoena McGahn to come to the House Judiciary Committee, and the Republicans fought it.

BIDEN’S PRIVILEGE CLAIM TO KEEP SPECIAL COUNSEL INTERVIEW UNDER WRAPS A ‘CRUDE POLITICS’ MOVE: EXPERTS

President Biden speaks at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., May 17, 2024. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“What they said was giving information to an executive branch prosecutor doesn’t waive the privilege as to Congress,” he added. “The Democrats all said that this was an obstruction of justice, that it was outrageous, that he’d already waived the privilege by allowing McGhan to speak to the prosecutor.”

Executive privilege has been around since the earliest days of the country and gives the executive branch the ability to withhold certain internal discussions and documents from scrutiny by the courts and the legislative branch. It allows the president some breathing room for his own deliberations with staff.

“The fact is that since the Republic started, presidents have been withholding information from Congress,” McCarthy said.

Congress has a variety of tools it can use to pry information out of the executive branch, including by holding people in contempt.

“Congress has a whole arsenal of stuff from the Constitution, powers that it can use to fight back and pry information out of the executive branch,” McCarthy said. “You know, you can slash budgets or hold up appointments, and if it gets bad enough, you can start holding people in contempt. … The final option, obviously, is impeachment.”

McCarthy warned, however, that if the president’s party has enough influence in Congress, those efforts can be more challenging.

“If the president’s party has enough sway in Congress that you can stop that arsenal from being used, then the whole thing is just a political calculation,” he said. “Like for Biden here, it’s how much worse would I be hurt by letting the tape come out or the recording come out than by stonewalling. It looks like the tape is so bad, he’s decided that even though he’s going to be damaged by stonewalling, that’s better than letting the tape out.”

McCarthy also highlighted how the media has reacted to Biden’s assertion of executive privilege, saying they’ll report on the matter in an attempt to preserve their integrity and then move on from it to “help Biden bury it.”

“The usual problem that you always have here is that when Republican administrations stonewall, the media gets all whipped up about it, and when Democratic administrations stonewall, they feel like they have to cover it for a day or two so that they can say they covered it but then move on to another subject and help Biden bury it, or at least they’ll try,” he said.

Former President Trump, left, and President Biden (Associated Press )

Garland on Thursday defended Biden’s decision to assert executive privilege, saying the subpoena for audio recordings “is one that would harm our ability in the future to successfully pursue sensitive investigations.”

“There have been a series of unprecedented, frankly, unfounded attacks on the Justice Department. This request, this effort to use contempt as a method of obtaining our sensitive law enforcement files is just the most recent effort to threaten, defund our investigations, and the way in which there are contributions to an atmosphere that puts our agents and our prosecutors at risk,” he added.

“It is the longstanding position of the executive branch held by administrations of both parties that an official who asserts the President’s claim of executive privilege cannot be prosecuted for criminal contempt of Congress,” Associate Attorney General Carlos Uriarte wrote in a letter Thursday to GOP Reps. Jim Jordan and James Comer, chairmen of the Committee on the Judiciary and Committee on Oversight and Accountability, respectively.

That “longstanding position,” however, was challenged following Trump’s term in the White House and the Capitol protests Jan. 6, 2021.

Two individuals who served in the Trump administration and raised executive privilege claims — former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and former Trump adviser Peter Navarro – have been convicted of contempt of Congress and sentenced to serve jail time for their refusal to comply with subpoenas issued by the now-defunct House select committee investigating the Capitol protests.

TRUMP ALLY STEVE BANNON LOSES APPEAL ON CONTEMPT CONVICTION AS HE FIGHTS TO STAY OUT OF PRISON

Bannon, 70, was sentenced to four months in prison in October 2022 and a $6,500 fine for ignoring a congressional subpoena.

Bannon’s appeal was denied last week after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit released a 20-page opinion that said granting Bannon’s appeal would “hamstring Congress’s investigatory authority.”

Bannon claimed he acted on the advice of his legal team and did not intend to break the law. Judge Bradley Garcia wrote the acting on “advice of counsel” defense is “no defense at all.”

The ruling will be appealed, Bannon’s attorney, David Schoen, told Fox News Digital last week.

Schoen noted that Bannon’s attorney at the time he received the subpoena, Robert Costello, advised his client that he was not permitted, as a matter of law, in any way to respond to the notice, saying executive privilege had been raised and that it was not his privilege to waive it. Costello wrote the committee to inform it that Bannon would comply if the panel worked out any privilege issues with former President Trump or if a court ordered him to comply, Schoen said.

Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, left, and former Trump adviser Peter Navarro (Getty Images)

Similarly, Navarro, who reported to prison in Miami in March following an order from the U.S. Supreme Court, was charged and convicted with contempt of Congress after he refused to comply with a congressional subpoena demanding his testimony and documents relating to the events of Jan. 6.

Though Navarro is attempting to appeal his contempt of Congress conviction, the court refused to postpone his imprisonment until after the appeal is concluded.

Navarro claimed he could not cooperate with the committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack because Trump had invoked executive privilege, an argument that lower courts have rejected.

The lower courts found that Navarro could not actually prove Trump had invoked executive privilege.

Biden’s decision to assert the privilege, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, came at the request of Garland. Jean-Pierre said it was Garland’s suggestion that “law enforcement files like these need to be protected.”

The House Judiciary Committee on Thursday advanced a resolution to hold Garland in contempt of Congress over the Justice Department’s failure to produce the subpoenaed audio recording of Biden’s interview with Hur. The vote advances the measure for a full floor vote.

Special Counsel Robert Hur, left, and President Biden (Getty Images)

Hur led the investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents after his departure as vice president under the Obama administration. Hur announced in February that he would not recommend criminal charges against Biden for possessing classified materials after his vice presidency, saying Biden is “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”

Hur wrote in the report that “it would be difficult” to convince a jury to convict Biden of any willful crime, citing his advanced age.

The findings sparked widespread outrage that Biden was effectively deemed too cognitively impaired to be charged with a crime but could serve as president. Trump has meanwhile slammed the disparity in charges as a reflection of a “sick and corrupt, two-tiered system of justice in our country.“

Fox News’ Chris Pandolfo, Elizabeth Elkind, Louis Casiano and Emma Colton contributed to this report.

Kyle Morris covers politics for Fox News. Story tips can be sent via email and on X: @RealKyleMorris.

Politics

Column: Don't cancel those summer plans yet. Who knows if the presidential debates will come off

Published

4 hours ago

May 19, 2024

Press Room

Column: Don't cancel those summer plans yet. Who knows if the presidential debates will come off

Today we discuss travel, leisure, sunsets and presidential debates.

Goody! Looks like we’ll have two Biden-Trump debates to tide us over this summer.

It seems that way. But who knows.

Wait. I shouldn’t cancel my dream vacation just yet?

I wouldn’t.

I mean, I don’t want to pop your party balloon. If a political debate is your idea of a good time — rather than, say, sitting on the sugary sands of some beach watching a dappled sunset play on the water, more power to you!

But we’re still a long way from the moment President Biden and former President Trump share a debate stage.

I thought it was all settled.

The prospective debates did come together rather quickly after Biden issued a taunting challenge and Trump immediately agreed to two face-to-face meetings.

The first is scheduled for June 27 on CNN. The second is set for Sept. 10 on ABC.

However, there are still a lot of details to be worked out, and plenty of opportunity for one party or the other to walk away.

Remember, in 2020 Trump bailed on a debate with Biden because the terms — a remote set-up, taken as a precaution during the COVID-19 pandemic — weren’t to his liking.

I thought all the details were ironed out by an independent debate commission.

That’s how it used to work.

Starting in 1987, the Commission on Presidential Debates — a nonprofit entity with a bipartisan board of directors — worked with the television networks to set up three presidential and one vice presidential debate each election cycle.

Matters such as the format, the choice of moderators and the seating (or standing) arrangements were settled ahead of time.

All the candidates had to do, apart from cramming for the 90-minute sessions, was show up.

So what happened?

The commission laid out its plans for four debates this fall, starting on Sept. 16 and ending on Oct. 9. But Biden and Trump chose to disregard the commission and ignore its proposed schedule.

They can do that?

Yes, indeed. There’s absolutely no requirement the candidates abide by the commission’s recommendations, or debate at all.

Jeepers.

Actually, the move wasn’t all that startling.

Trump was unhappy with the commission for several reasons. He complained about the moderators chosen in 2016 and again in 2020. He also didn’t like a decision to mute candidates’ microphones during parts of the second 2020 debate after he persistently talked over Biden in their first meeting.

Two years ago, at Trump’s behest, the Republican National Committee officially withdrew from the debate commission.

So Trump blew it up.

No. Biden had issues with the commission as well.

Two of his top political advisors, Anita Dunn and Ron Klain, were part of a bipartisan panel that issued a 2015 report calling for an overhaul of the presidential debate process by, among other things, expanding the pool of potential moderators and eliminating on-site audiences.

The bottom line is both campaigns thought it better suited their interests to bail on the commission and work out a debate schedule by themselves.

So it’s a win-win for Biden and Trump?

You could look at it that way.

Biden doubtless would have preferred to come nowhere near Trump. If he was running away with the contest, the president might have gotten his wish.

But debates have come to be expected of the two major party candidates, and if Biden refused it would have invited further unwanted questions about his health and stamina.

By agreeing to two debates, and no more, Biden limits the risks of a campaign-jeopardizing stumble. Also, by holding the debates earlier than usual — the last takes place nearly two months before election day — it allows the president plenty of time to recover politically if he turns in a less than stellar performance.

That said, Biden could be boffo — or at least perform decently enough. He’s shown a penchant for rising to important occasions, such as his well-received State of the Union speech in March.

What’s in it for Trump?

He’s been salivating to get onstage with Biden, repeatedly saying he’d debate the president anytime, anywhere. So Trump couldn’t very well refuse when Biden replied, OK, let’s do it.

More than that, Trump and his strategists are thoroughly convinced that Biden is a walking, or rather, doddering disaster. In fact, while it’s typical for a candidate to downplay expectations — the better to crow about their performance once the debate is over — Trump has done the opposite.

He’s described Biden as “the WORST debater I have ever faced” and a man who can’t “put two sentences together.”

So if he puts two sentences together, Biden wins?

I wouldn’t say so.

It doesn’t matter how high, or low, Biden or Trump set expectations. Voters can watch and judge their performances independent of any pre-debate spin. That’s why tens of millions of people tune in. The debates offer one of the few occasions during a campaign where the candidates can be seen unscripted and thinking and acting on their feet.

What about other candidates?

Trump and Biden would both be happy to exclude Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the leading independent candidate, since neither side is certain whom he helps or hurts more.

Regardless of how Kennedy performed, standing on the same stage as Biden and Trump would automatically elevate his candidacy.

That’s another reason the two major party candidates agreed to their own arrangements — though Kennedy could still qualify under the criteria put forth by CNN and ABC. His participation is among the open questions surrounding the debates and something that could end up nixing one or both.

So should I stick with or cancel my summer plans?

Go ahead. Get out there and see the world. It’s summertime!

If you’re that concerned about missing the political action, just make sure your cabana or mountain aerie has reliable Wi-Fi.

Politics

Experts reveal major 'downside' to potential Trump VP pick: 'No wow factor'

Published

11 hours ago

May 19, 2024

Press Room

Experts reveal major 'downside' to potential Trump VP pick: 'No wow factor'

Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of profiles of potential running mates for presidential candidate Donald Trump on the 2024 Republican Party ticket.

A possible frontrunner on former President Trump’s running mate shortlist has a major “downside” that could make his potential selection a bad bet, multiple campaign and election experts told Fox News Digital.

The horse race among those hoping to be named Trump’s running mate continued this week. Those widely believed to be on the shortlist made the rounds on various media outlets and at events alongside the former president, including North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who some say lacks a “wow factor.”

“He’s not a known commodity. He’s not somebody that, I think, instinctively would fire up the base or fire up Republicans,” GOP strategist Dave Polyansky said, citing concerns over Burgum’s lack of name recognition despite running in the Republican presidential primaries last year.

TRUMP VEEP STAKES: THE PROS AND CONS OF SOUTH DAKOTA GOV. KRISTI NOEM

From left to right: Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum. (Getty Images)

He argued that, although firing up the base wasn’t the main purpose in a choice for running mate, there was no “overwhelming cry” from Republicans across the country for Burgum to be the pick.

“Again, that shouldn’t necessarily be a decider, but there’s no wow factor to him,” Polyansky said.

Veteran Republican strategist Karl Rove agreed Burgum’s name recognition was also a problem and that he’s “from a small, heavily Republican state” when the battle for the presidency could come down to who wins over voters in the battlegrounds of Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada and Wisconsin.

Rove also predicted Burgum’s wealth could “make him a target for the left.”

WATCH: POSSIBLE TRUMP VP PICK MAKES MAJOR PREDICTION ABOUT BLACK VOTERS AS BIDEN BLEEDS SUPPORT

Republican strategist Erin Perrine told Fox “the downsides to Burgum’s selection are not deeply controversial given other possible selections the former president could make” but agreed with Rove that Burgum hailing from a reliably red state with a small population wouldn’t impact the electoral map.

“Some might argue that other potential candidates could bring more expertise, higher visibility or diversity to the ticket, leading to doubts about Burgum’s suitability as a VP nominee,” she said. She added Burgum declaring last year he wouldn’t serve as Trump’s running mate, as well as the possibility he might face intensified media scrutiny regarding his absence from North Dakota over the past year, would likely complicate his selection.

North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum encourages voters to support Republican presidential candidate and former President Trump during a campaign rally in the basement ballroom of The Margate Resort Jan. 22, 2024, in Laconia, N.H. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“It doesn’t take much for the media to pounce, and campaigning as a sitting governor has proven difficult for others running for other offices before,” she said.

Others were more blunt when it came to the possibility of Burgum’s selection, including a source close to the Trump campaign who said there was “more downside than upside there,” citing the concerns over his name recognition and being from North Dakota.

“If I had to rank him, I’d put him in the top five, maybe five or six, but not any higher,” the source said.

GOP pollster Scott Rasmussen simply told Fox, “I see no reason why Gov. Burgum should even be in the discussion other than media speculation. The fact that Trump featured him at the recent rally is interesting, but I suspect the governor will play some other role in the campaign.”

Burgum, despite those concerns, does have a number of strong qualities experts said could provide a boost to Trump, including his record as the chief executive of a state and as a business leader.

TRUMP’S POTENTIAL RUNNING MATES TO COMPETE FOR APPROVAL AT MAJOR CHRISTIAN CONFERENCE AS SPECULATION SWIRLS

Former President Trump, a Republican presidential candidate, attends the annual Lincoln Reagan Dinner hosted by the Minnesota Republican Party May 17, 2024, in St. Paul, Minn. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

“Burgum is a successful two-term governor of a major energy- and agricultural-producing state who’s championed education reform, tax cuts and government reform,” Rove said. “He’s also built a tech company — Great Plains Software — in the Midwest heartland, which he sold to Microsoft, becoming a top executive with the company before entering politics.”

Polyansky said one of the most “compelling” reasons to have Burgum’s name on the ticket was because of his television presence.

“He’s proven himself over the last month to be a great, very agile and pretty effective communicator,” he said. “Burgum’s shown that he can do some good in terms of his ability to communicate and drive a message.”

Perrine said Burgum’s “no-drama, no-nonsense demeanor has boosted the economy and safety of North Dakota,” and that being a “businessman-turned-governor” was “a mirror to Trump that the former president would appreciate.”

The source close to Trump’s campaign praised the governor as “a vote getter.”

“He’s a decent man,” the source said.

From left to right: House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina. All have been floated as possible vice presidential running mates for former President Trump. (Getty Images)

A number of other big names have also been floated to join Trump on the Republican ticket, including South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Ohio Sen. JD Vance and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.

Trump, who spent most of his week sitting on trial in a New York City courtroom while President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are free to hit the campaign trail, is still weighing his running mate options. He suggested last week he might even wait until the July Republican National Convention in Milwaukee to name his pick.

Fox News Digital has reached out to representatives of Burgum for comment.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Brandon Gillespie is an associate editor at Fox News. Follow him on X at @BGillespieAL.