Topline
MyPillow chief Mike Lindell, a staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump, sued the FBI for confiscating Hardee in his drive-by last week , accusing the agency of violating his rights as he continues to peddled an unsupported conspiracy about the 2020 election.
MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell sues FBI for alleged violations his rights.
Key Facts
Lindell alleges that the FBI and The Justice Department violated his constitutional rights because FBI agents confiscated Hardee’s phone as he drove past last week when he was returning from a duck hunting trip.
After federal agents surrounded his truck and executed a search warrant to seize his cell phone, court documents say Del was “fearing for his and his friend’s life” and “prepared to run into one of the cars”. Authorized by a federal judge.
Lindell said he couldn’t leave until he handed over his phone, which he said amounted to ” illegal detention”.
The agent also failed to explain Lindell’s rights to him and refused to call him Attorney’s request, while they asked him questions including Dominion Voting Systems, his air travel and Tina Peters, an election official in Mesa County, Colorado. They were indicted earlier this year for allegedly tampering with voting machines, the documents said.
Lindell, who was not charged with a crime or arrested, also said the government must have been following him in order for the FBI to be able to execute a search warrant at Hardee’s because he was not publicly his visit plan.
The lawsuit seeks the return of Lindell’s cell phone and any data obtained from it, which the government should prohibit from being published or used in any investigation.
Key Background
Lindell and Trump Like many of his closest allies, who often finds himself on fire, he continues to claim the 2020 election was stolen. He was indicted on multiple and unproven accusations of voter fraud, notably Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic defamation, and said he had been dropped by major retailers in retaliation for his allegations. He is an outspoken opponent of computerized voting systems — which he reiterates and insists on First Amendment protections in this lawsuit — which he believes has contributed to massive fraud in the 2020 election. While he claimed solid evidence that the election was stolen from Trump, widespread voter fraud and malfunctioning voting machines, Lindell’s evidence did not stand up to even basic scrutiny.
Tangent
It’s unclear if Lindell himself is under investigation after he previously claimed that agents were questioning him about his relationship with Peters. An image allegedly copied by Peters from a voting machine was uploaded to Frank Speech, a website he runs, and Lindell has previously said he directly funded her legal defense, but later retracted the statement and said he was mistaken, According to The New York Times . Peters’ case, in which he pleaded not guilty to charges of downloading data from voting machines, is one of several in which he allegedly accessed voting machines to retrieve data that would apparently support conspiracy theories of election theft.
Further reading
Trump claims MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell’s phone is in Hardy’s (Forbes) driveway Voter Fraud Believer – Indicted for Election Tampering – Loses Colorado’s GOP Nomination for Secretary of State (Forbes)
‘They’re trying to cancel me’: MyPillow CEO says retailer dropped the brand in his baseless voter fraud claims (Forbes)
follow me Twitter or LinkedIn. Give me a safety tip .
