Lin Wood dodges contempt bid but faces discipline over social media post - Reuters

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Attorney L. Lin Wood speaks during a press conference on election results in Alpharetta, Georgia, U.S., December 2, 2020. REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage

(Reuters) - A federal judge in Detroit has ordered conservative attorney L. Lin Wood to explain why he shouldn't be disciplined for posting a video recording of a court hearing involving potential sanctions for Wood and others who sued to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Michigan.

In a two-page order to show cause on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Linda Parker noted that the Eastern District of Michigan prohibits "broadcasting of judicial proceedings by radio or television or other means."

Parker denied a bid to have Wood held in criminal contempt, however. Robert Davis, a Wayne County voter who intervened in the lawsuit shortly after it was filed in November, had sought the contempt order.

Wood on Monday shared a two-minute video from the July 12 sanctions hearing through the Telegram messaging app. The video, which was uploaded by another user, showed former Trump campaign lawyer Sidney Powell defending the complaint she and others filed last November claiming widespread fraud in the U.S. presidential election in Michigan. The lawsuit was dismissed in December, after Parker found the allegations baseless.

The judge spent a large portion of the sanctions hearing grilling Wood, Powell and the others over whether they vetted affidavits claiming voter fraud before filing them in federal court.

Wood asserted during the hearing that Parker could not sanction him. Although his name appeared on the complaint, he said he didn't know his name was going to appear and that he had no involvement in the complaint.

After the hearing, Wood complained on Telegram that the hearing "was clearly designed to create propaganda for the Mockingbird media," adding he thought he was "attending a hearing in Venezuela or Communist China."

Wood deleted both the link to the video and his remarks hours later on Monday, telling his followers that he did so on the advice of counsel.

Wood's lawyer, Donald Campbell, an attorney grievance defense expert at Southfield, Michigan-based Collins Einhorn Farrell, requested earlier this week that the court allow the plaintiffs to release recordings of Monday's hearing, arguing in part that national news outlets "presented a narrative that counsel for plaintiffs believe to be incorrect." Parker denied that motion on Wednesday.

Paul Stablein, a Birmingham, Michigan-based attorney who filed an appearance on Wood's behalf on Friday, did not comment on Parker's order, saying his arguments will be in their written response.

"After reading what is publicly available in the court file, I have a firm belief that he is completely innocent of any of the allegations the plaintiffs and intervenor defendants have levied against him in court and elsewhere," Stablein said.

Read More:

Judge eyes sanctions on pro-Trump lawyers who claimed voter fraud

David Thomas

David Thomas reports on the business of law, including law firm strategy, hiring, mergers and litigation. He is based out of Chicago. He can be reached at d.thomas@thomsonreuters.com and on Twitter @DaveThomas5150.

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Lin Wood dodges contempt bid but faces discipline over social media post - Reuters
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