Mike Lindell, known for his strong support of Donald Trump and as the founder of MyPillow, expressed his intent to fund a complete recount in Minnesota’s GOP primary for governor. Lindell lost this race by 11 percentage points earlier this month.
During a phone discussion with NBC News, Lindell confirmed he has assembled a team to scrutinize the Republican primary. State House Speaker Lisa Demuth emerged victorious on August 11. Lindell contacted the Minnesota Secretary of State’s office to acquire a quote for executing a full recount.
Lauren Bethke, General Counsel for the Secretary of State, relayed to Lindell through a letter that the hand recount and audit would cost approximately $825,000. Lindell anticipates spending around $1 million in total, factoring in additional costs for his investigative team. He expressed his readiness to cover these expenses.
As of Wednesday, the Secretary of State’s office had not received a formal recount request. Bethke’s letter stipulated that Lindell must submit a recount request with a bond, cash, or surety by Monday to proceed. Lindell intends to personally submit the official request on Monday. He is awaiting confirmation regarding where each county plans to conduct recounts so he can deploy observers to monitor the proceedings.
In a statement, Lindell declared, “Even if this recount and audit does not overturn my election for governor of Minnesota, I believe this is the gateway to getting rid of these electronic voting machines.”
Lindell, a recipient of Trump’s endorsement in the primary, battled multiple lawsuits from voting machine firms due to his false claims about the 2020 election. In January, a federal judge ordered him to pay $56,369 to Smartmatic USA Corp. for defamation. Lindell refusing to pay led to the judge imposing a daily $500 fine, increasing the financial burden beyond the original sanctions.
Despite these court orders, Lindell’s attorneys informed U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Bryan, the judge who found him guilty of defamation, of their intent to revisit the case. They mentioned “newly available evidence,” referring to extensively redacted documents about election security released by Trump on July 16. These documents did not substantiate allegations of rampant voter fraud in the 2020 election.
Lindell upheld his belief that the documents substantiate his fraud claims and vowed to continue contesting Smartmatic’s allegations, irrespective of the judge’s ruling on the reconsideration request. As Lindell stated, “It doesn’t matter what goes on with whether he accepts that or not.”