Current:Home > MarketsFederal judge affirms MyPillow’s Mike Lindell must pay $5M in election data dispute -TradeGrid
Federal judge affirms MyPillow’s Mike Lindell must pay $5M in election data dispute
View
Date:2025-04-28 01:27:32
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday affirmed a $5 million arbitration award against MyPillow chief executive Mike Lindell in favor of a software engineer who challenged data that Lindell said proves China interfered in the 2020 U.S. presidential election and tipped the outcome to Joe Biden.
Lindell said he plans to appeal. Asked if he can afford to pay, he pointed out that the breach-of-contract lawsuit was against one of his companies, Lindell Management LLC, and not against him personally.
“Of course we’re going to appeal it. This guy doesn’t have a dime coming,” Lindell said.
Lindell, a prominent promoter of false claims that voting machines were manipulated to steal the 2020 election, launched his “Prove Mike Wrong Challenge,” as part of a “Cyber Symposium” he hosted in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in August 2021. Lindell offered a $5 million reward through Lindell Management for anyone who could prove that “packet captures” and other data he released there were not valid data “from the November 2020 election.”
Robert Zeidman entered the challenge with a 15-page report that concluded the data from Lindell don’t “contain packet data of any kind and do not contain any information related to the November 2020 election.” A panel of contest judges that included a Lindell attorney declined to declare Zeidman a winner. So Zeidman filed for arbitration under the contest rules.
A panel of three arbitrators last April unanimously ordered Lindell to pay Zeidman $5 million, concluding that he had satisfied the contest rules. In Wednesday’s ruling, U.S. District Judge John Tunheim expressed concern about how the panel interpreted what he called a “poorly written contract,” but said courts have only limited authority to overrule arbitration awards. He ordered Lindell to pay up with interest within 30 days.
Lindell is also the subject of a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems in the District of Columbia that says he falsely accused the company of rigging the 2020 presidential election. He’s also the target of a separate defamation lawsuit in Minnesota by a different voting machine company, Smartmatic.
Lindell has conceded that he and MyPillow are struggling financially. Fox News, which had been one of his biggest advertising platforms, stopped running MyPillow commercials in January in a payment dispute. Two law firms that had been defending him against lawsuits by Dominion and Smartmatic quit last fall. He acknowledged that he owed them millions of dollars.
veryGood! (8)
Related
- Average rate on 30
- He was orphaned in the Holocaust and never met any family. Now he has cousins, thanks to DNA tests
- Businesswoman who complained about cartel extortion and illegal fishing is shot dead in Mexico
- Pete Davidson and Madelyn Cline Break Up After Less Than a Year of Dating
- Sam Taylor
- Montana’s High Court Considers a Constitutional Right to a Stable Climate
- U.S. men's soccer coach Gregg Berhalter fired after poor showing in Copa America
- Man fatally shot at Yellowstone National Park threatened mass shooting, authorities say
- Meet first time Grammy nominee Charley Crockett
- Lena Dunham won't star in her new Netflix show to avoid having her 'body dissected'
Ranking
- Former Danish minister for Greenland discusses Trump's push to acquire island
- 'Brutal and barbaric': Missouri man charged with murder after survivor escapes dungeon
- Jackass Star Steve-O Shares He's Getting D-Cup Breast Implants
- It's National Kitten Day! Watch the cutest collection of kitten tales
- Military service academies see drop in reported sexual assaults after alarming surge
- Headstone salesman charged in alleged scam involving hundreds of grieving customers
- Kyle Richards Shares a Hack for Doing Her Own Makeup on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Cast Trips
- Businesswoman who complained about cartel extortion and illegal fishing is shot dead in Mexico
Recommendation
Israel lets Palestinians go back to northern Gaza for first time in over a year as cease
ACC lawsuit against Clemson will proceed after North Carolina judge denies motion to stay
United Airlines jet makes unscheduled landing in Florida after a passenger fights with a crew member
ABTCOIN Trading Center: Turning Crisis into Opportunity, Bull Market Rising
Mets have visions of grandeur, and a dynasty, with Juan Soto as major catalyst
Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Front and Center
North Carolina senator’s top aide now CEO of Carolina Hurricanes parent company
US, Canada and Finland look to build more icebreakers to counter Russia in the Arctic