Lin Wood, a lawyer fighting for the victory of President Donald Trump in the 2020 election, raised the alarm after calling Vice President Mike Pence to top the list of arrests for treason.
Wood, a staunch believer that Trump won the election, shifted his focus from Democrats to Republicans, asking Pence to step down and face “execution by firing squad” in a tweet on Friday. Once arrested, Wood suggested that the vice president “sign like a bird” and confess to having been a “key player” in the “election theft”.
The Atlanta attorney’s controversial comments prompted people to mark the FBI and Secret Service when responding to tweets, saying Wood’s tweets constituted a threat against the vice president.
@FBI Threatening the President or VP is a federal crime under the US Code, Title 18, Section 871. It consists of intentionally making “any threat to take the life, kidnap or inflict bodily harm on the President or VP of the United States”.
– Jen Wood (@unojen_wood) January 2, 2021
@FBI @ Secret Service I would like to report a death threat. Trump’s lawyer, MR. Wood is calling for the murder of an acting vice president. I may not agree with @VP as a person, but I respect the seat. If that threat were made by someone else, actions would be taken.
– Not part of the trump cult (@shutuptrumpets) January 2, 2021
According to Title 18 of the US Code, threatening to kill, kidnap or inflict bodily harm on the vice president is punishable by a fine, a maximum of five years in prison, or both.
On Wednesday, Pence is expected to chair the Electoral College’s results certification, as well as the vice president. Some Trump supporters hope that Pence will refuse to introduce voters to President-elect Joe Biden in decisive states, thereby blocking his rise to the presidency.
Texas GOP Congressman Louie Gohmert filed a lawsuit against Pence, claiming that the vice president has the exclusive power to determine which voters are counted. On Friday, Judge Jeremy Kernodle dismissed the suit, saying the plaintiffs have no basis for filing it.
Brendan Smialowski / AFP / Getty
Republicans are planning to oppose counting electoral votes – a move that has little or no chance of success – and Pence faces pressure to refuse to certify the results. If the vice president refuses to publicly commit to rejecting voters from “states where fraud has occurred,” Wood said he should “resign immediately.”
“A man of God would never certify a lie,” Wood posted on Twitter on Friday. “Every lie will be revealed. Every lie means every lie. It always has been. It always will be.”
Wood’s legal battles are independent of the ongoing struggle of the president’s own legal team. Jenna Ellis, one of the president’s lawyers, distanced herself from the Atlanta attorney. Ellis posted on Twitter on Friday that she does not support Wood’s statements, but supports “the rule of law and the US Constitution”.
“For conservatives, the solution is never to ignore the Constitution and the rule of law just because the other side does. The solution is to continue striving to apply them properly, ”she wrote on Twitter the next morning. “The principle of limited government is at the heart of freedom.”
Wood rejected people who called him “crazy” and asked officers for his arrest as having a “schedule” and insinuated that they may have something to hide or want the truth to remain hidden.
Newsweek contacted the Wood and Pence offices for comment.