Lin Wood, a prolific conspiracy theorist who joined spurious efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, appears to be cooperating with prosecutors in Georgia as the state’s sprawling criminal case against Donald Trump and 18 others heads to at least two trials.
A special grand jury tasked with reviewing evidence in the case surrounding the former president recommended that Mr Wood face criminal charges connected to an alleged criminal scheme to subvert the outcome of Georgia’s election results, but Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis ultimately declined to do so.
Mr Wood, instead, is among “witnesses for the State in the present case,” according to court filings.
While promoting a range of bogus conspiracy theories invoking debunked QAnon-adjacent myths and slogans, Mr Wood joined failed legal efforts in the aftermath of the 2020 election to reject results in key states that Mr Trump lost.
Following the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, as a joint session of Congress convened to certify Joe Biden’s victory, Mr Wood appeared to call for the assassination of then-Vice President Mike Pence on the social media platform Parler after he rejected Mr Trump’s pressure to reject the outcome: “Get the firing squads ready. Pence goes FIRST.”
The Trump-allied attorney retired from his law practice earlier this year to avoid disbarment amid an investigation and possible disciplinary action under the Georgia bar.
On his Telegram account, Mr Wood said there “NOT TRUTH” to accusations that he “flipped” against the former president.
“I have no idea why I am being asked to testify at the trial,” he added.
He said he has had “no discussions” with the district attorney’s office following his testimony to the special grand jury.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, who is presiding over the racketeering case against Mr Trump and his co-defendants, also presided over civil contempt charges against Mr Wood in a series of recent hearings that resulted in thousands of dollars in fines.
Mr Wood, whose prolific posts on his Telegram account frequently invoke Christian prayer, was held in contempt of court for repeatedly denigrating his colleagues despite a gag order against him. A lawsuit from his former law partners accused him of “erratic, hostile, abusive, and threatening” behaviour.
“I can’t overlook the protracted and flagrant nature of the violation,” Judge McAfee said earlier this year.
On 19 September, Mr Wood was ordered to pay more than $42,000 in attorneys’ fees.
On his Telegram account, Mr Wood claimed he was being prosecuted for his “efforts as a lawyer representing myself for TRUTH in the court of public opinion as is my duty”. In the post, he lashed out at the judge, Freemasons, and Georgia’s Republican Governor Brian Kemp.
Following a hearing connected to the Georgia case last week, Judge McAfee has agreed to let attorneys for pro-Trump lawyers Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell – who are being tried separately from the group of 17 other defendants – speak with Fulton County grand jurors who indicted them, but the interviews must be voluntary and performed “in the presence of the court”.
The judge also denied their request to receive materials from last year’s special grand jury, other than transcripts from witnesses that prosecutors intend to call at trial.
