Topline
MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell claimed the FBI seized his cellphone on Tuesday and served him with a subpoena as part of an investigation into the alleged breach of voting machines in Colorado, prompting a swift rebuke on social media from former president Donald Trump who, like Lindell, continues to promote baseless and debunked conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.
MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell said the FBI seized his cellphone.
Key Facts
Lindell, who has previously been sued for his baseless claims the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, posted on social media that the FBI served him with a grand jury subpoena related to an investigation over alleged election tampering in Colorado.
Lindell told multiple news outlets—including the New York Times, CNN and the Daily Beast—the Bureau seized his cellphone while at a Hardee’s restaurant in Minnesota Tuesday afternoon and questioned him over his ties to Tina Peters, the Mesa County, Colorado, election official who was indicted earlier this year for allegedly tampering with voting machines.
Though the subpoena requested he not to tell anyone about the investigation, Lindell published a copy of the letter and search warrant online and also read excerpts aloud on his digital TV show.
A letter signed by an assistant U.S. attorney stated that while the law does not require nondisclosure, “we believe that the impact of any disclosure could be detrimental to the investigation.”
Lindell’s brush with federal officials sparked a swift reaction from Trump, who claimed his ally was “just raided by the FBI” in a post on his Truth Social platform.
Trump—who has railed against the FBI for searching his Mar-A-Lago residence to recover classified documents—slammed the move and said it shows the U.S. is now a “weaponized police state, rigged elections, and all” and is a “laughing stock” around the world.
What We Don’t Know
It is not clear whether Lindell is under investigation himself. Lindell previously said he had funded Peters’ legal defense directly, though later retracted the statement and said he had been mistaken, according to the Times. Lindell also told the Times he had provided as much as $200,000 to Peters’ legal defense fund via his own legal fund. Lindell also said the agents asked him about an image copied from a voting machine that was uploaded to Frank Speech, a site he operates.
Key Background
Lindell, alongside the likes of Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani, has been one of the most prominent and vocal supporters of Trump in his efforts to discredit the 2020 presidential election. He claims to have solid proof the election was stolen from Trump and of widespread voter fraud, though his evidence has not managed to withstand even basic scrutiny. He has been sued for his continued unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud, notably by Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic for defamation, and says he has been canceled by major retailers in retaliation for his claims. His appearance in the case against Peters, who has pleaded not guilty to charges over a ploy to download data from voting machines, ties local investigations to the broader nationwide movement to overturn the election, in which Lindell is a prominent figure. Peters’ case is one of several involving allegations of people accessing voting machines to try and secure data to prove the conspiracy theories true.
Further Reading
Mike Lindell: Feds Seized My Cellphone at Hardee’s (Daily Beast)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2022/09/14/trump-claims-mypillow-ceo-mike-lindell-raided-by-fbi-after-his-cellphone-was-seized-at-a-hardees-drive-through/