Attorney Lin Wood, who discouraged Republicans from voting in the Senate runoff races in Georgia despite his public support for President Trump and the GOP incumbents, is fighting speculation he might not want the Republican Party to control the Senate.
Wood outlined his financial contributions Wednesday to Republicans and conservative groups after his support for the Republican Party was called into question when Breitbart News reported Wood had a history of donating to Democrats, including former President Barack Obama, Sen. John Edwards during his 2004 run for the presidency, and others.
The feud draws battle lines within the movement backing Trump’s refusal to concede the 2020 election to President-elect Joe Biden. Wood is assisting the Trump legal fight as an ally, but Trump has been busily tweeting Breitbart stories about allegations of election fraud ever since the contest.
The latest Breitbart report about Wood, presented on the website’s homepage as a story on him trying to “sabotage” Republicans in Georgia, was even shared by the Trump campaign’s verified “War Room” Twitter account. Breitbart used to be headed by Steve Bannon, who served as chief executive officer on Trump’s 2016 campaign and White House chief strategist for much of 2017.
🚨🚨🚨@BreitbartNews home page right now pic.twitter.com/hDHgVn6d0P
— Arthur Schwartz (@ArthurSchwartz) December 3, 2020
“Breitbart is dishonest. Historically, I am nonpartisan. This year, I was partisan because I love @realDonaldTrump. I donated $375K to Trump PAC. @sendavidperdue solicited a $25K donation & I gave it to him. I gave $5,600 to @RepDougCollins & hosted a fundraiser for him,” Wood said. “I estimate that I have given WINRED $10K+ this year. I have donated several thousand dollars to other Republican candidates & $150K to conservative PAC for congressional candidates.”
“I gave $5,000 at a fundraiser in which @RichardGrenell spoke. That is all I can remember at the moment. How did Briebart miss these facts? Guess some people do not want the fraud in GA election to be discovered. I did not donate to. @BrianKempGA. Now back to my dessert,” he continued, referring to former acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.
Individual contribution records from the Federal Election Commission show that 2020 was Wood’s most generous campaign donation year. Before this election cycle, Wood’s greatest campaign contribution was a $2,800 donation to independent Senate candidate Craig O’Dear.
FEC records show that Wood did make a $375,000 contribution to a joint fundraising committee supporting Trump and allied GOP groups as well as and three contributions to Doug Collins worth a combined $5,600 — in addition to a number of $100,000 donations directly to the Republican National Committee and other PACs.
Wood donated more money in 2020 than any year since 2000, but his claims of being “nonpartisan” before 2020 aren’t exactly borne out by his donor record. In 2004, Wood did donate $500 to support Edwards’s presidential bid, and in 2008, Wood donated $2,300 to then-candidate Barack Obama.
He then gave $2,700 to former Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s 2016 bid for the presidency and a number of donations to Trump and Trump-related PACs that year totaling more than $6,000 — including a donation of $57.40.
Obama is the only Democrat to whom Wood donated more than $1,000, FEC records showed.
Breitbart‘s report followed Wood’s appearance with Sidney Powell, a former member of Trump’s legal team, at a rally on Wednesday. There, the two leveled unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud and calls for Kemp, a Republican, to be jailed. He also discouraged Republicans from voting for Republican Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, who are both going on to runoff elections on Jan. 5, if they did not support a special legislative session in Georgia.
“If Kelly Loeffler wants your vote. If David Perdue wants your vote, they’ve got to earn it,” Wood said. “They have not earned your vote. Don’t you give it to them. Why would you go back and vote in another rigged election for God’s sake? Fix it! You gotta fix it!”
If Republicans lose both races, the Senate will effectively be split 50-50, positioning Vice President-elect Kamala Harris as the tiebreaker in favor of the Democrats and the independents who caucus with them.
Earlier this week, Wood shared a call for Trump to “declare martial law,” while Powell has shared tweets that demand the presidential race be reviewed by military tribunals.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Matthew Boyle, who wrote the Breitbart story, for further comment.
