Kyle Rittenhouse — acquitted November of charges relating to killing two men in self-defense during the Kenosha, Wisconsin, riots in 2020 — revealed in a recent interview that his next legal action would be against his former lawyers.
Rittenhouse shared the news about his litigation plans during a Dec. 8 interview with BlazeTV’s Glenn Beck, where the two discussed Rittenhouse’s life before the shooting, his relationship with his mother, the lengthy legal battle behind his acquittal and his plans for the future.
Many expected Rittenhouse to sue the media for defamation after his acquittal for characterizing him as a white supremacist when the trial was still going on.
During the televised conversation, Beck asked Rittenhouse if he was “gonna sue the pants off the media.”
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In response to Beck’s question, Rittenhouse said, “We’re gonna focus on our one fight we’re dealing with right now, the guy who’s been lying, Lin Wood and John Pierce. We’re gonna focus on them right now, but maybe down the line in the future — we don’t know yet — but we’re gonna focus on those liars.”
Beck then asked Rittenhouse why was he seeking to go after Lin Wood first.
“I don’t want to talk much about [Wood], other than he’s a liar, and he’s putting my family in jeopardy,” Rittenhouse replied. “We’re getting death threats because of the lies he’s saying. It’s just disturbing.”
Kyle Rittenhouse Tells Glenn Beck That Instead of Suing the Media, He’s Focusing on Lawyers Lin Wood and John Pierce https://t.co/sb2KB7aDJx via @mediaite pic.twitter.com/xS84iY87PK
— Grandpa Snarky (@GrandpaSnarky) December 11, 2021
According to TheBlaze, Rittenhouse did not want to elaborate more on his dispute with the former lawyers.
The dispute between the Rittenhouse family and the attorneys stems from the question of who should receive the $2 million bond money that Wood and Pierce helped raise to get Rittenhouse out of jail, according to the New York Post.
Local outlet Kenosha News speculated that this conflict would eventually lead to a lawsuit in a November report.
Pierce, of the law firm Pierce Bainbridge, posted the bond for Rittenhouse’s release from prison last year with a check from the firm, according to Kenosha News.
Wood argued that his FightBack Foundation gave the money for the bond, and therefore the money posted should go to him.
According to state law in Wisconsin, bonds after a trial’s culmination are to be returned to the individual who formally posted it, which in this case seems to be Pierce, the Post reported.
After Rittenhouse’s family dismissed Pierce in February and replaced him with Rittenhouse’s present attorney Mark Richards, the family, according to the Post, has complained that Pierce and Wood “diverted money meant to help Rittenhouse.”
“I suspect there will be a fight over that,” Richards said in November.
“John Pierce is the person who posted the bond. All that money was raised on behalf of Kyle. Lin Wood and FightBack say they are entitled to it.”
“There was half a million dollars I think that came directly from [Kyle’s mother] Wendy Rittenhouse from money she raised,” Richards added. “So there’s going to be a fight over that, and I’m just thankful there will be a fight over it.”
For his part, Wood has defended himself against accusations of bad faith, telling The Daily Beast in November that Rittenhouse had been given “misinformation.” He has also publicly threatened to sue Richards for defamation.
Pierce has also disputed the accusations, according to Insider.
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The Western Journal reached out to both Lin Wood and John Pierce for comment regarding the Rittenhouse accusation and received a lengthy reply from Wood.
In summary, Wood posits FightBack did everything it could to get Rittenhouse out in a timely manner and that, if they could give the funds to Rittenhouse, they would. However, legally, under the 501(c)(4) section of the federal income tax code, they cannot do so, according to Wood.
Also, Wood stressed that Pierce posted the bail on FightBack’s behalf, meaning the money belongs to FightBack.
“The law is clear that whoever posted the bail gets it back. FightBack posted the bail. We found out later that John Pierce, when he paid the bail, had listed that the money should be returned to him at his home address,” Wood told The Western Journal.
“That’s not the law and it wasn’t the intent. He knew that it was coming to him as the agent to transfer to the clerk of court.”
Furthermore, Wood claimed the team at FightBack tried to “raise the $2 million bail as quickly as [they] could.”
When it comes to returning the funds to Rittenhouse, Wood said he wanted to do so, but was told “we cannot do that. It would violate 501(c)(4) rules.”
The Western Journal has not yet received a comment from Pierce. This story will be updated if and when one is provided.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
