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Kyle Rittenhouse seemingly accused attorney Lin Wood of intentionally leaving him in jail for months longer than necessary.
During an interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson that aired on Monday night, Rittenhouse also alleged that Wood took advantage of him and his high-profile case while he was stuck behind bars.
Rittenhouse suggested that Wood was only in it for the money.
Below is a transcript of the exchange:
CARLSON: “The jailers?
Rittenhouse: “The guards, Depke. They were the utmost professional people I have ever met.”
CARLSON: “Really?”
Rittenhouse: “Exactly. They were some of the most professional people I have ever met. It was amazing. Like, they treated me with respect. And they didn’t like, talk down to you like you’ve seen like 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 falls in with Lin Wood, who — Lin Wood was raising money on my behalf, and he held me in jail for 87 days, disrespecting 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 — “
CARLSON: “Your lawyer said that?”
Rittenhouse: “My lawyer said that, John Pearson 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’ve since then gained it back.”
CARLSON: “I know the feeling. (Laughs)”
Rittenhouse: “Yeah. But 87 days of not being with my family for defending myself and being taken advantage of, being used for a cause by these — by John Pierce and Lin Wood, trying to solicit — not solicit, 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 waiver 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 20.”
CARLSON: “What was that like?”
Rittenhouse: “It was scary in jail. Like, you had to watch over yourself. Not a lot of people liked me in jail until they — the funny thing, is a lot of people didn’t like me in jail, but they got to hear my story and they got to understand me, like, ‘He’s actually a really decent person, not this person that the media painted him out to be.’ And it was scary, but I was able to make friends, acquaintances in jail, and I played spades, card games with them.”
CARLSON: “Amazing. So you’re in jail for 87 days. Do you have a sense of how your case is being talked about in the outside world?”
Rittenhouse: “Not really when I’m in jail. But once I am bailed out, John Pierce said I was an unorganized militia, which is just blatantly false. I didn’t know what a militia was. I just — “
CARLSON: “Wait, your lawyer said you were in a militia?”
Rittenhouse: “John Pierce said that, and it’s blatantly false. I didn’t know what a militia was until after the fact, until November 25, when I was watching some of the interviews, I was like, ‘I’m not in a militia. I don’t know what that is.’”
CARLSON: “(Laughs) Sorry to laugh.”
Rittenhouse: “I was like, ‘What the heck?’ And I’m like, ‘No wonder people are saying I’m in a militia. It’s because he painted that narrative which he should have never have gone there.’”
CARLSON: “Well, yeah, it’s untrue.”
Rittenhouse: “Exactly.”
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