Lawyer who pushed voter fraud claims under investigation
ATLANTA — State election officials are investigating whether one of the most outspoken proponents of the claim that the presidential election was stolen through widespread voter fraud had moved to another state before voting in Georgia last fall.
The Georgia secretary of state’s office opened a probe Tuesday into where attorney Lin Wood has been living, according to its investigative case sheet. Wood was listed as living in Fulton County and voted early in person in Georgia in the November presidential election, according to records on the agency’s website.
The secretary of state’s office opened the investigation after learning from a television reporter that Wood may have been living in South Carolina when he voted in the November general election, according to a senior official with the secretary of state’s office. The official asked The Associated Press not to be named because of security concerns after the secretary and his staff received threats over the handling of the election.
Wood announced the move himself on social media Monday, without mentioning its exact timing at first.
“BREAKING NEWS! I have changed my legal residence from the State of Georgia to the State of South Carolina!” he posted on Telegram. “South Carolina has welcomed me. Georgia has falsely accused me and shunned me. I am thrilled about my change in residency.”
WSB-TV first reported on the investigation. The station said Wood had emailed one of its reporters, saying he had
been “domiciled in South Carolina for several months after purchasing property in the state in April.” The reporter provided a screenshot of the email to the AP.
Wood denied this in a text exchange with the AP on Wednesday, saying the suggestion that he told the station or its reporter that he had been “domiciled” in South Carolina last year “is not accurate.”
“While I spent time in South Carolina in 2020, I considered myself domiciled in Georgia and a resident of Georgia at all times in 2020,” Wood wrote. He said he voted in person in Georgia on Oct. 21 for the general election but did not vote in the Senate runoffs in January.
Wood also blasted the investigation in another post on Telegram on Tuesday, calling Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger “a loser.”
“I only yesterday announced my change of residency to South Carolina EFFECTIVE yesterday, February 1!” he wrote. “Until yesterday, I have been a resident of Georgia since 1955. Ha! The enemy’s attacks are getting weaker
and weaker.”
Georgia law says a person’s residence shall be considered “that place in which such person’s habitation is fixed, without any present intention of removing therefrom.” It also says that if a person moves to another state “with the intention of making it such person’s residence, such person shall be considered to have lost such person’s residence in this state.”
Wood also is being scrutinized by the State Bar of Georgia, which said it “is proceeding with an inquiry” into Wood. The state bar rule cited as a basis for the investigation says that if its disciplinary board finds that a lawyer may be “impaired or incapacitated to practice law” as result of mental illness, cognitive impairment or substance abuse, the board may make a confidential referral to an appropriate medical or mental health professional for evaluation.
Wood said on Telegram that he’s “of sound mind,” hasn’t violated any rule of professional conduct, and will fight the state bar in court if necessary.