L. Lin Wood may not be a household name in much of the country, but when it comes to the radical legal fights that followed Donald Trump’s defeat in 2020, Wood was a central figure that stood out for his conspiratorial litigation.
The Republican lawyer has faced some consequences for his antics, including facing court-imposed sanctions, but as a Daily Beast report recently summarized, Wood continues to face difficulties on multiple fronts.
L. Lin Wood became a key promoter of election fraud myths shortly after the 2020 presidential election and helped Donald Trump’s team unsuccessfully challenge the election results in court. Since those failed challenges, Wood has faced his own legal trouble. A trio of former colleagues sued him in Georgia, accusing him of bizarre behavior and breach of contract. The Georgia Bar held a disciplinary trial for Wood in May while it weighs whether to disbar him. Earlier that month, a Michigan attorney regulatory agency filed a misconduct case against Wood and colleagues for their election fraud lawsuits. And [in June], a former ally in the QAnon world filed suit against Wood, accusing him of defamation.
It was against this backdrop that the controversial attorney took a step yesterday to address one of those problems: Wood sent a letter to the State Bar of Georgia, asking that he be allowed to transfer to “retired status,” effective immediately. This would permanently prohibit him from practicing law again in the state.
It would also, of course, preempt the disciplinary process that might lead to Wood’s disbarment.
While we wait to see if his retirement request is approved, Wood is not the only pro-Trump lawyer facing such a dilemma. John Eastman, who played a leading role in the scheme to try to keep Trump in power despite his defeat, is currently facing 11 disciplinary charges in the State Bar Court of California, and it’s entirely possible that he’ll soon be disbarred. And let’s also not forget about Jeffrey Clark, a highly controversial assistant attorney general in Trump’s Justice Department, who’s facing possible disciplinary action from the District of Columbia Bar in response to the Republican lawyer’s post-2020-election efforts. They represent quite a trifecta.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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