THANK YOU for making this point.

Yes, this is the main issue I had with this article. I know it's super challenging to have ALL of the information at our fingertips and there is A LOT of confusion out there. But if one writes an essay like this, I would think that person would follow a wide enough range of media to know that the FBI basically used the same tactics it used for over a decade to entrap Muslims on the guys involved in the so-called plot against the Michigan governor.

I'll give the author the benefit of the doubt and assume he just wasn't aware, but again, if that's the case, then I think he needs to broaden his media diet if he's going to write articles like this one. Folks like Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjenti of Breaking Points covered this, as have Matt Taibbi and Glenn Greenwald. Those are well-known to people who follow US politics and writes about them.