Judge Orders MyPillow CEO to Pay Up: The $5M Election Data Drama
Ah, the twists and turns of the legal world never fail to entertain. In the latest episode of the Mike Lindell saga, a federal judge in St. Paul, Minnesota, upheld a $5 million arbitration award against the MyPillow CEO. The award was in favor of a software engineer who dared to challenge Lindell’s claims of Chinese interference in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Lindell, ever the showman, was quick to declare his intention to appeal the decision, brushing off concerns about his ability to pay by pointing out that the lawsuit targeted his company, Lindell Management LLC, not his personal assets.
Lindell, known for his fervent promotion of baseless conspiracy theories about election fraud, had launched a challenge called the “Prove Mike Wrong Challenge” during a Cyber Symposium in August 2021. The challenge promised a hefty $5 million reward for anyone who could debunk the data he presented as evidence of election tampering. Enter Robert Zeidman, who submitted a report dismantling Lindell’s data as irrelevant to the November 2020 election. Despite Zeidman’s efforts, a panel of judges, which conveniently included a Lindell attorney, refused to declare him the winner. Undeterred, Zeidman turned to arbitration under the contest rules, leading to the eventual ruling in his favor and the hefty fine for Lindell.
U.S. District Judge John Tunheim, while expressing reservations about the arbitration panel’s handling of the case, acknowledged the limited power of the courts to overturn such decisions. He ordered Lindell to cough up the $5 million, plus interest, within 30 days. This legal setback is just one of the many troubles Lindell faces, as he is also embroiled in a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems. The lawsuit alleges that Lindell spread false claims accusing the company of rigging the 2020 presidential election. To add insult to injury, Lindell admitted that both he and MyPillow are facing financial difficulties.
The courtroom drama surrounding Lindell serves as a cautionary tale about the perils of peddling misinformation and the potential consequences in the legal arena. As the self-proclaimed champion of truth and justice, Lindell finds himself on the receiving end of hefty fines and defamation suits. While his defiance persists, the reality of legal obligations looms large. Will Lindell weather the storm and emerge unscathed, or will the weight of his legal troubles prove too heavy a burden to bear? Only time will tell in this ongoing legal saga.
