Judge rules Mike Lindell must pay $5 million to election fraud dispute challenge winner

A federal judge on Wednesday ordered that MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell’s company pay $5 million to a software developer that disputed data that Lindell said supported claims of election interference in the 2020 election. recognized that it must pay the arbitration award.

The Associated Press reported that Lindell said he plans to appeal the ruling. Asked by the Associated Press whether Lindell could afford the high price, Lindell said the breach of contract was not against him personally, but against one of his companies, Lindell Management LLC. He pointed out that.

“Of course I’m going to appeal. This guy is not going to get a dime,” Lindell was quoted as saying, according to the Associated Press.

Lindell, a Trump supporter who has promoted false claims about the 2020 election, launched the “Prove Mike Wrong Challenge” as part of his “Cyber ​​Symposium” in August 2021. Raised. During this challenge, he offered his $5 million through Lindell’s management to anyone who could prove that the “packet captures” and other data he had collected were not valid.

Lindell claimed that this data proves that China interfered in the 2020 election. Software developer Robert Zeldman entered the contest by submitting a 15-page report concluding that Lindell’s data contained no information relevant to the 2020 election. Zeldman then filed for arbitration after Lindell’s team argued that Zeldman did not win the contest.

Mr. Lindell was first ordered by a three-arbitrator panel in April last year to pay Mr. Zeldman a $5 million award.Wednesday ruling U.S. District Judge John Tunnheim noted that courts have limited authority regarding arbitration disputes, but ordered Lindell to pay the award with interest within 30 days of the order.

“The court’s responsibility in reviewing an arbitration award is not to reevaluate the merits, but rather to ensure that the panel acted properly. “He acted outside the scope of his authority to issue this,” the judgment states.

“The Court fails to identify evidence that the panel exceeded its authority, even though the Court could have reached a different result given its independent initial review of the information.” The Court’s Rigorous Review , the arbitral award will become final,” the judgment continued.

The Hill has reached out to Lindell’s legal team for further comment.

Associated Press contributed.