A lawyer who led one of Donald Trump’s legal challenges to the 2020 election results surrendered his law license Wednesday rather than deal with dismissal proceedings.
L. Lin Wood, 70, faced being banned from practicing law in his home state of Georgia. Instead, he told the Georgia Attorney General’s Office that he would like to retire.
In his retirement letter, Wood acknowledged that he was “prohibited from practicing law in this state or in any other state or jurisdiction and that I would not be permitted to reapply for admission.”
Attorney L. Lin Wood speaks on April 30, 2021 in Columbia, SC
Wood was part of Trump’s legal team that filed legal challenges to the 2020 election results in various states across the country. None of the lawsuits were successful.
Shortly after Joe Biden was declared the winner of Georgia, Wood filed a lawsuit to stop the results from being certified. The suit was thrown away.
In February 2021, the Georgia Attorney General’s Office opened a disciplinary investigation into Wood and released a lengthy memo detailing his alleged misconduct.
Wood tried to fight the exclusion process, but these challenges were also rejected. Two months ago he took part in a hostile disciplinary hearing where he clashed with special representative Thomas Cauthorn.
Wood was just one of several former Trump lawyers who faced career consequences for their attempts to overturn the 2020 election. Another member of the team, John Eastman, faces dismissal proceedings in California for his efforts. He was disciplined 11 times by California prosecutors in January, and hearings began in June.
Rudy Giuliani, perhaps the most famous member of Trump’s legal team, was disbarred in New York in June 2021 after the state said he had made “demonstrably false” claims about the election.
The lawyers could also face further legal trouble as the Justice Department investigates Trump’s handling of classified documents and his actions on January 6, 2021. Special Counsel Jack Smith has already interviewed Giuliani for several hours.
Smith also wants to speak with Sidney Powell, who has filed multiple lawsuits against Trump, and Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state who has been targeted by Trump supporters for failing to overturn the election results.
With News Wire Services
