Chameleon: “Inside the Tent” — Behind the Michigan Plot Released: October 16, 2024
Guests: Ken Bensinger (NYT), Jessica Garrison (LA Times), Host: Josh Dean
Podcast: Chameleon x Campside Media

Episode Overview

This episode of Chameleon features a special crossover with Inside the Tent, Campside Media's behind-the-scenes podcast. Host Josh Dean interviews Ken Bensinger and Jessica Garrison, veteran journalists and hosts of “The Michigan Plot” (Chameleon Season 7), about the reporting process, the story’s unexpected complexity, and the challenges of turning a national scandal—the 2020 Whitmer kidnapping plot—into a gripping audio documentary. The discussion peels back layers of media coverage, government overreach, and collaborative storytelling.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

Finding the Story & Early Reporting

• Learning about the plot: Jess and Ken recount discovering the Whitmer kidnapping story amid pandemic chaos and California wildfires (01:57).

  “We had fled the smoke ... there was no cell service ... I called Ken and said, can you come help?” — Jessica Garrison [02:13]

• Initial headline mentality: They initially approached the story like all other reporters: a terrifying right-wing terror plot.

  “It’s a group of terrible guys who tried to kidnap a governor ... a very dangerous thing.” — Josh Dean [04:06]

• Digging Deeper: Wanting more than press-release headlines, they wrote a “second-day story” aiming to address why right-wing violence was suddenly so pervasive (03:57, 04:19).

The Story’s Evolution: Surprises & Moral Complexity

• First suspicions: Their reporting turned when they dug into a mysterious meeting of “3 percenters” at an Ohio Drury Inn—initially rumored to be a violent summit, but described as a “picnic” by attendees (05:10).

  “We found a couple of people who were there who were like, this is a total setup.” — Jessica Garrison [06:01]

• Shifting narrative: After deep dives into hearings, it became clear “government informants [were] crawling all over this case”—a level of infiltration not publicized initially (08:02).

The Role of Informants & Government Overreach

• Informant revelations: A pivotal moment was a March 2021 preliminary hearing exposing the central role of a key FBI informant (07:43, 08:02).

  “…main informant … puts himself at the center of every single activity … By the time it was over, the feeling was like, whoa, whoa. This is really different than what they told us in October.” — Ken Bensinger [08:02]

• Ethical questions: The journalists confronted the dilemma of “unlikable” defendants vs. potential government overreach and entrapment (09:09, 10:54).

  “Even unsympathetic people deserve fair … treatment from something as powerful as federal and state prosecutors.” — Ken Bensinger [09:41] “Is what these people did in conjunction with FBI informants a crime or not?” — Jessica Garrison [11:45]

Line-Blurring Between Fact, Perception, and Conspiracy

• Split interpretations: The case’s ambiguity left jurors and the public split, challenging the narrative of “good guys vs bad guys” (12:05).

  “…you can understand both, like how Whitmer’s chief of staff feels... and then on the other hand, it’s a very good chance these guys don’t do anything if the FBI doesn’t put the metaphorical gun in their hands.” — Josh Dean [12:24]

• What-if questions: What if the government had ignored it? The team explores the bind between “overreacting” and being negligent (13:03).

From News Articles to Podcast: Turning Messy Reality Into Narrative

• Audio challenges: Early on, the lack of access to court audio made them doubt the project’s podcast potential (14:41).
• Game-changing audio: Getting wiretap recordings allowed the “characters” and absurd moments to come to life, lightening the podcast’s tone (14:47, 15:29).

  “It’s really incredible what we heard. Literally, like riding shotgun on the conspiracy—or 'conspiracy' in quotes.” — Josh Dean [14:49]

• Unexpected humor: Surveillance audio caught not just plotting, but road trips, jokes, and the group’s “goofball” nature—contrasting with the severity of the charges (15:46, 16:21).

  “They just sound like a bunch of 20-somethings going on a road trip.” — Josh Dean [16:21] “Some goofballs.” — Ken Bensinger [16:26]

Reflections on Journalism, Partisanship, and Fairness

• Journalists’ challenge: Reporting challenged their sense of empathy and fairness—even for “unlikable” defendants.

  “These are not guys you’d want to have a beer with ... but ... even unsympathetic people deserve fair and honest treatment.” — Ken Bensinger [09:11]

• No clear villain: The case continually subverted expectations, refusing to fit neat “us vs them” narratives (12:05).
• Criminal justice system: Jessica Garrison remains skeptical of American justice, emphasizing the prevalence of questionable convictions (10:54).

The Team and Collaborative Process

• Praise for producers: Both hosts credit producer Ryan Sweikart with shaping the story and sifting through hours of material (19:25, 20:40).

  “Ryan ... submerged himself in all this audio ... When he came out of it, he ... very closely fit the version of the story that Jessica and I had figured out ...” — Ken Bensinger [20:02] “The team that Campside put together ... was incredible ... It was watching this thing come to life in a way that I ... really don’t feel like I can take much credit for.” — Jessica Garrison [20:40]

• Would you do it again? Both hosts said “yes”—especially with the right collaborators and material (19:19, 22:14).

Where Are They Now?

• Ken Bensinger: Now a politics reporter at The New York Times, covering the presidential election, encountering both MAGA fervor and institutional respect at the RNC (16:51, 18:03).

  “I'm a politics reporter... covering the presidential campaign.” — Ken Bensinger [16:51]

• Jessica Garrison: Covers Northern California for the LA Times, with stories ranging from kayaking to historic restaurants (17:13).

  “I'm a reporter at the LA Times... a lot of criminal justice, a lot of water... kayaking down the Russian River...” — Jessica Garrison [17:13]

• Reflections on Buzzfeed closure: Both look back on the demise of Buzzfeed News, where their investigation began (16:43).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Even unsympathetic people deserve fair and honest and good faith treatment from something as powerful as federal and state prosecutors.” — Ken Bensinger [09:41]
• “Is what these people did in conjunction with FBI informants a crime or not? And that's what's interesting about it, I think.” — Jessica Garrison [11:45]
• “It’s a very good chance these guys don’t do anything if the FBI doesn’t put the metaphorical gun in their hands.” — Josh Dean [12:39]
• “You can truly—like, an amazing thing is to walk around Radio Row ... it's like the cantina from Star Wars. Every wild personality you could possibly imagine in the right-wing ecosphere is just walking around, going from booth to booth.” — Ken Bensinger [19:04]
• “To answer your other question about doing another podcast: the answer is an unqualified yes, if I get to work with people like you guys again.” — Ken Bensinger [22:14]
• “It was watching this thing come to life in a way that I ... really don’t feel like I can take much credit for ... I would do another podcast.” — Jessica Garrison [20:40]

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 01:57 — Jessica describes “the day it all began” during the 2020 pandemic wildfires
• 03:01 — Ken explains how the story broke at BuzzFeed News and their approach
• 06:01 — First hints of a setup; skepticism emerges at Drury Inn meeting
• 08:02 — Revelations about widespread government informants influencing the case
• 09:09–11:45 — Ethical dilemmas: government power, fairness, unsympathetic defendants
• 12:24 — Split perspectives; no clear right/wrong, but “oversteps” by authorities
• 14:41 — Transforming the investigation into a podcast with crucial wiretap audio
• 15:29 — Using real audio: letting the story speak for itself
• 16:21–16:39 — Goofball road trip: humanizing the conspirators via wiretaps
• 16:51–17:13 — Where are they now? Catch-up with Ken and Jessica’s current reporting
• 19:25–20:40 — Deep dive into collaboration, storytelling, and the podcast process
• 22:14 — Hosts agree: they’d make another podcast together

Overall Tone and Takeaways

This episode is an open, at times irreverent, exploration of modern crime reporting and the slipperiness of truth in an era of surveillance, government suspicion, and internet-fueled paranoia. It’s clear that even seasoned journalists were surprised at every turn; what started as a black-and-white terror plot unraveled into murky questions about justice, government power, and media narratives. The hosts’ camaraderie and humility—paired with flashes of dark humor and an undercurrent of civic skepticism—set the tone for a new kind of true crime storytelling: messy, ambiguous, and deeply human.