Georgia state bar proceeding with inquiry into pro-Trump attorney Lin Wood
(CNN) — The State Bar of Georgia is “proceeding with an inquiry” into attorney Lin Wood, one of the lawyers who unsuccessfully pushed a handful of suits to block Georgia’s election results after alleging unfounded claims of fraud, the organization told CNN in a statement Tuesday.
In a statement to CNN, Sarah Coole, chief operating officer with the State Bar of Georgia wrote, “We can confirm the Bar is proceeding with an inquiry under Bar Rule 4-104, but we aren’t able to make further comments.”
Wood confirmed that he received a complaint filed against him by the State Bar of Georgia, writing on the social app Telegram on February 13, “I just received a 1,600+ page grievance complaint filed against me by the State Bar of Georgia. The GA State Bar has thrown the kitchen sink at me.”
Wood did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for additional comment.
On January 29, Wood wrote on Telegram that “I am fighting battles on every front. The State Bar of Georgia told me today they would demand a mental health exam from me if I wanted to keep my law license. My mind is sound. I have broken no rules. I asked what I had done wrong, I was only told it was about my social media comments. My speech.”
Separately, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has launched an official investigation into whether or not Wood voted as a legal resident in the November 2020 election, a source with Raffensperger’s office confirmed to CNN earlier this month.
In a statement to CNN on February 2, Wood wrote “I have been a resident of the State of Georgia since 1955. I have changed my residency to South Carolina yesterday. This is pure harassment by the Georgia Secretary of State because I have revealed credible evidence of election fraud on the part of Brad Raffensperger.”
Raffensperger’s office declined to comment on Wood’s harassment allegation, telling CNN that it doesn’t comment on ongoing investigations.
Earlier on February 2, Justin Gray of WSB-TV tweeted a screenshot of an email allegedly sent from Wood showing that he had moved out of Georgia and “been domiciled in South Carolina for several months after purchasing property in the state in April.”
Gray tweeted that those comments “caught (the) eye of investigators.”
Wood later said in a statement to CNN on February 2 that he has not been “domiciled” in South Carolina.
“I have not been ‘domiciled’ in South Carolina for several months,” Wood told CNN. “I have spent time at my homes in Georgia and South Carolina. I considered myself to be domiciled and a resident of Georgia until yesterday when I made the decision to become a resident of South Carolina. Now I expect to be domiciled in South Carolina too. I will still frequently visit Georgia.”
A source familiar with the Georgia secretary of state’s investigation says that they opened their investigation into Wood after learning of what he emailed WSB-TV’s Justin Gray about having “been domiciled in South Carolina for several months.”
Once Raffensperger’s office completes the investigation, it will report its findings to Georgia’s State Election Board, which can decide if it wants to refer the case to Georgia’s Attorney General for further investigation, according to the source.
Over the last year, an LLC linked to Wood has purchased at least three multimillion-dollar properties in Beaufort County, a coastal area south of Charleston, South Carolina.
In 2020, the LLC purchased the Tomotley Plantation, which is more than 1,000 acres of land and features an avenue of oak trees that were planted in 1820. The earliest known date of the existence of the property was 1698, according to the Tomotley Plantation’s Website. According to the website, the Tomotley Plantation had previously housed slaves.