Judge Gives Mike Lindell Ultimatum In $5 Million ‘Prove Me Wrong’ Case

Trump-supporting pillow tycoon Mike Lindell has until Friday to hand over documents in a $5 million lawsuit or he will be forced to appear in federal court.
The case stems from Lindell’s public promise to pay anyone $5 million to disprove Lindell’s claim that the election was rigged in Joe Biden’s favor.
A computer expert then proved that Lindell’s data was erroneous and went to court to claim his $5 million.
He is now seeking financial records from Lindell and his company, Lindell Management LLC, so that he can recover the money.
Newsweek sought email comment from Lindell’s attorney on Tuesday.
Minnesota federal judge Dulce J. Foster noted on Friday that Lindell has missed every deadline and has not even responded to the court.
Foster said she therefore considered that Lindell is not challenging the disclosure order and ordered that Lindell, his lawyer, and a Lindell Management executive appear in court if they haven’t handed over the documents by Friday, August 23.
“Failing which, the Court will order Respondent to appear at a hearing with its counsel and a managing officer of the company to explain its continued noncompliance with its discovery obligations,” Foster wrote.
“Respondent has not responded to Petitioner’s Motion to Compel within the deadline to respond and has neither sought an extension nor otherwise communicated with the Court regarding the Motion,” Foster added.
Lindell made his fortune as founder and CEO of My Pillow but his pillow empire has been in serious financial trouble in the last year as Lindell struggled with a series of Trump-related lawsuits.
Lindell has spoken openly about his financial troubles and his efforts to keep the company afloat.
Neama Rahmani, president of the West Coast Trial Lawyer law firm in California, told Newsweek that Foster will not jail Lindell for noncompliance.
“Lindell may be fined or sanctioned further, but he won’t be jailed for failing to comply with discovery in a civil lawsuit or arbitration. It’s more likely that the judge will issue increasingly severe sanctions, the most serious of which would be terminating sanctions and issuing a civil judgment against Lindell,” Rahmani said.
In February, U.S. District Judge John R. Tunheim upheld an April 2023 ruling that requires Lindell to pay computer forensics expert Robert Ziedman $5 million.
The case stemmed from a 2021 symposium in which Lindell issued his “Prove Me Wrong” challenge.
He said he possessed data that proved Chinese interference affected the results of the presidential race. He offered $5 million to anyone who could prove his data wrong.
Ziedman’s figures debunked Lindell’s claim and Ziedman then went to court to recover the money.
After the February ruling, Lindell told War Room podcast host Steve Bannon that he will appeal the decision and that Zeidman won’t “see a dime.”
“I don’t have any money,” Lindell told NBC News after the ruling. “I have a pickup truck and a house that I live in. That’s it.”