Rittenhouse: Past Attorneys Used Me For ‘Their Own Benefit,’ Kept Me In Jail For 87 Days When I Could’ve Been Released

Kyle Rittenhouse on Monday evening told Fox News his past attorneys, Lin Wood and John Pierce, used his case to gain money “for their own benefit,” and kept the boy in jail for far longer than he had to be.

“I was in jail for 87 days,” Rittenhouse told host Tucker Carlson. “And this follows in with (past attorney) Lin Wood. Lin Wood was raising money on my behalf and he held me in jail for 87 days, disrespected my wishes, put me on media interviews, which I should never have done.”

Wood told Rittenhouse to speak to The Washington Post, the teenager said, adding, “which was not a good idea.”

Wood and another former Rittenhouse attorney, John Pierce, told the teen he “was safer in jail instead of at home with my family,” Rittenhouse said Monday.

“Your lawyer said that?” Carlson reacted in disbelief.

“My lawyer said that, John Pierce and Lin Wood.”

“87 days is a long time to be in jail,” Carlson said.

“It was very long. I lost a lot of weight in there. I since then gained it back,” joked the 18-year-old. “But 87 days of not being with my family for defending myself and being taken advantage to, being used for a cause by John Pierce and Lin Wood trying to raise money so they can take it for their own benefit. Not trying to set me free.”

“So you think they could have raised the money for bail faster, but they didn’t?” Carlson asked for clarification.

“I believe sometime in September, September 5th I want to say, they had over a million dollars and bail was set and able to be posted in September,” Rittenhouse said. “So they could have had me sign the way ever for extradition and had me back in Wisconsin and I could have been bailed out by mid-September, but they wanted to keep me in jail until November 20th.”

Partial transcript below via Rev:

CARLSON: Rittenhouse doesn’t seem eager to talk about it, but he spent months in jail after turning himself into police, much of it in an adult lockup, despite the fact he was a minor. It was during that time that his family, his mother mostly, desperately looked for legal counsel, for representation, someone help him get out of jail. In the end, the family was represented by a pair of lawyers called Lin Wood and John Pierce. This came up out of nowhere, we were not expecting to have this conversation at all, we were taken by surprise a little bit but it’s really interesting. Here’s Kyle Rittenhouse’s description of what his lawyers did to him.

You get arrested, what happens then?

RITTENHOUSE: Once I’m arrested, I go to Depke Juvenile Facility, and I got to say thank you to them for their professionalism and … guards at Depke. They were the utmost professional people I’ve ever met.

… They were some of the most professional people I’ve ever. … It was amazing. They treated me with respect and they didn’t talk down to you like you’ve seen in some videos. They just treated me like I was a human.

CARLSON:  How long were you there?

RITTENHOUSE: I was in jail for 87 days. And this follows in with Lin Wood. Lin Wood was raising money on my behalf and he held me in jail for 87 days, disrespected my wishes, put me on media interviews, which I should never have done, which he said, “Oh, you’re going to go talk to the Washington Post.” Which was not a good idea. Along with John Pierce, they said I was safer in jail instead of at home with my family. And then after I’m bailed out-

CARLSON: Your lawyer said that?

RITTENHOUSE: My lawyer said that. John Pierce and Lin Wood.

CARLSON: 87 days is a long time to be in jail.

RITTENHOUSE: It was very long. I lost a lot of weight in there. I since then gained it back.

CARLSON: I know the feeling. Yeah.

RITTENHOUSE:  But 87 days of not being with my family for defending myself and being taken advantage to, being used for a cause by John Pierce and Lin Wood trying to raise money so they can take it for their own benefit. Not trying to set me free.

CARLSON: So you think they could have raised the money for bail faster, but they didn’t?

RITTENHOUSE: I believe sometime in September, September 5th I want to say, they had over a million dollars and bail was set and able to be posted in September. So they could have had me sign the way ever for extradition and had me back in Wisconsin and I could have been bailed out by mid-September, but they wanted to keep me in jail until November 20th.

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