Trump Lawyer Lin Wood Threatens to Sue Rittenhouse Lawyer for Calling Him

Lin Wood, an attorney for Republican former President Donald Trump, has threatened to sue Kyle Rittenhouse‘s attorney, Mark Richards, for calling him an “idiot.”

“You know, Lin Wood and I went head-to-head and, you know, he’ll probably sue me for it, but he’s an idiot who let (Rittenhouse) talk to The Washington Post while he was under charges for murder. I mean, come on,” Richards said in a Friday CNN interview.

In the interview, Richards also accused Wood and fellow attorney John Pierce of “trying to whore this kid out for money, for their own causes,” adding that the attorneys were “raising tons of money on him.”

In response, Wood wrote an email to Richards stating, “You publicly stated in an interview on CNN that I was an idiot. False, I am not.”

Wood then blamed Pierce for allowing Rittenhouse to speak to the Post. Wood said that Pierce was Rittenhouse’s criminal attorney at the time. Wood claimed that he had only been hired in order to handle defamation issues after the criminal trial concluded.

“You should be ashamed of denigrating me and #FightBack for our legal and good faith efforts to help Kyle,” Wood wrote. “Demand is hereby made that you immediately retract and correct your false accusations against me. If you do not do so, I will prove that you are right on one point you made on CNN—I will sue you.”

In a Saturday statement to Newsweek, Wood said he was “at a loss to understand” why Richards criticized him. Wood added that there was no “factual basis” for Richards’ remarks.

Newsweek contacted Richards for comment.

Before Rittenhouse’s trial, Wood and Pierce raised $2 million to pay Rittenhouse’s bail. The campaign was backed by a number of conservative figures. In late September, Wood began seeking to have the money returned to his organization, the #FightBack Foundation, at the end of Rittenhouse’s trial.

Wood’s attempt set off a dispute between the lawyers and Rittenhouse’s family about where the money should go after the trial.

“While we’re busting our humps trying to raise money and see Kyle acquitted, Lin Wood is sending letters to the court DURING Kyle’s hearing to demand $2M in donations FOR KYLE be given to HIM,” the Kyle Rittenhouse Defense Fund Twitter account tweeted. The account claimed to be working with Rittenhouse and his family.

Wood called the information in the tweet a “lie,” stating that the money was donated to Wood’s foundation and would go towards the foundation, not to him personally.

If the funds were given to Rittenhouse, Wood argued, it would violate tax rules for non-profits.

After the 2020 presidential election, Wood filed numerous election fraud lawsuits baselessly challenging President Joe Biden‘s victory. He has since continued to promote claims of…