MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell waits outside the West Wing of the White House before entering on Jan. 15, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
The MyPillow CEO, whose cell phone was famously taken by the FBI at a Hardee’s drive-thru while returning from a duck hunting trip in 2022, has now taken his unsuccessful attempts to get the device back to the Supreme Court of the United States.
Mike Lindell recently hinted that a 'big case' was going to SCOTUS and confidently predicted that the case would end 9-0 in his favor, just as the justices recently ruled 9-0 to keep Donald Trump on the ballot.huge caseAt the time Lindell made the comments, it was uncertain if he was referring to a case involving his phone or another case. It is now more likely, based on the timeline, that he was talking about a case related to U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake, R-Ariz., and her failed attempt to eliminate voting machines.
He told Steve Bannon just last weekend that the “biggest thing ever” would be announced on SCOTUS’ steps by Friday at 3 p.m., claiming “This isn’t just some tinfoil hat case” about voting machines. Despite this, Lindell has also filed a petition for a writ of certiorari regarding his phone.. Lindell reportedly The filing, submitted on Feb. 26, did not prompt the Biden administration to immediately respond, as indicated in the docket. On March 13, U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar explicitly waived the right to respond “unless requested to do so” by SCOTUS.
The Lindell petition began by describing him as someone persecuted by the government for simply asking questions about election integrity and voting machines.
The petition“This case involves an effort by the Government to identify and retaliate against those who persist in questioning the integrity of computerized voting systems, particularly those used in the 2020 election. In this case, the Government has abused its powers in pursuing its objectives of identifying the individuals involved in challenging election outcomes and the strategies and tactics they employ by reviewing the electronically stored data on Lindell’s seized cell phone containing privileged communications among individuals, including Lindell, who have associated for the common purpose of protecting election integrity,” the petition said. “Even more disturbing, federal courts have disregarded numerous controlling precedents in approving the Government’s actions against Lindell and his associates, which he contends have violated his First and Fourth Amendment rights.” Lindell strongly criticized “lawfare” and the “weaponization of the judicial process,” and urged the justices to “arrest this devolution of the rule of law by administering a course correction.” He asked the high court to address these two questions:
Remember that following the seizure of Lindell’s phone by the FBI, pursuant to an identity theft, intentional damage to a protected computer, and conspiracy warrant, the government disclosed that the pillow salesman and former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, since accused at the state level in Colorado , were “subjects” of the federal investigation.
with the assistance of lawyer Alan Dershowitz
, responded by suing U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, but
that was a unsuccessful attempt
1. Whether a preliminary injunction may be granted if it requests the ultimate relief sought in the litigation.
2. Whether a warrant is invalid for failure to comply with the particularity requirement of the Fourth Amendment where the warrant authorizes the seizure of all electronic data stored on a cell phone without particularly describing the data to be seized.
in the district court. Arguments in favor of the phone’s returnalso were rejected by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
Lindell, , as a group of judges each appointed by Republican presidents found that the seizure of the device amounted neither to a constitutional claim nor “a showing of a callous disregard for his constitutional rights.” The group, noting that Lindell himself “acknowledged in a sworn statement that his phone had been backed up five days prior to its seizure,” concluded that “irritation as to where and how the government took possession of his cell phone does not give rise to a constitutional claim.”Now Lindell, even as he and his company face billion-dollar defamation lawsuits by Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic over his insistence that they played a role in stealing the 2020 election from Trump, is imploring SCOTUS to settle the phone dispute once and for all. MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell is taking his so far losing efforts for his cell phone’s return to the Supreme Court of the United States. in the district court.
Arguments in favor of the phone’s return also fell flat with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, as a panel of judges each appointed by Republican presidents found that the seizure of the device amounted neither to a constitutional claim nor “a showing of a callous disregard for his constitutional rights.” The panel, noting that Lindell himself “acknowledged in a sworn declaration that his phone had been backed up five days prior to its seizure,” concluded that “irritation as to where and how the government took possession of his cell phone does not give rise to a constitutional claim.”
Now Lindell, even as he and his company face billion-dollar defamation lawsuits by Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic over his insistence that they played a role in stealing the 2020 election from Trump, is imploring SCOTUS to settle the phone dispute once and for all.