MyPillow's Mike Lindell sues feds over seized cellphone

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell is suing top Justice Department leaders in a bid to retrieve a cellphone that he said FBI agents seized from him in a Mankato Hardee's drive-thru last week.

In a lawsuit filed this week in U.S. District Court in Minnesota, Lindell is asking a judge to declare that the Sept. 13 encounter with FBI agents violated his constitutional rights.

Lindell wants U.S. District Judge Eric Tostrud to order authorities to return his cellphone "and any data accessed from the cellular service provider" as well as stopping the government from accessing any data retrieved from the phone. Lindell also wants the judge to prohibit the release of any information law enforcement may have accessed after carrying out the search and seizure warrant.

According to the lawsuit, a federal magistrate judge on Sept. 7 authorized federal agents to seize Lindell's Apple iPhone "and to gain access to multiple categories of data collected on that cellphone." The lawsuit alleges that agents tracked Lindell down using cell site location information or a tracking device without a warrant as he returned from an Iowa hunting trip on Sept. 13.

The civil complaint recounts much of what Lindell has told reporters and followers on social media in the immediate aftermath. He said an unmarked vehicle operated by a federal agent in street clothes abruptly blocked him in the drive-thru lane while two other unmarked vehicles pinned him in.

"Not knowing that the individuals in the three vehicles were federal agents, and fearing for his and his friend's lives, Mr. Lindell was prepared to ram one of the vehicles to escape," the civil complaint reads. "Before taking any such action he demanded, in a loud voice to attract attention, to know 'Who are you people? What do you want?'"

In a footnote, Lindell's attorneys acknowledged a recent interview in which Adam Mahowald, manager of a Mankato Hardee's, told the Twin Cities publication Racket that the FBI raid did not happen at his Mankato restaurant, although Lindell claimed "the FBI has confirmed that it served a warrant at that time at that location." An FBI spokesperson said the bureau did not have a comment, citing pending litigation.

Lindell told the Star Tribune last week that agents questioned him about Dominion Voting Systems and a Colorado clerk who has been charged in what prosecutors are calling a "deceptive scheme" to breach voting system technology used nationwide.

Mesa County, Colo., Clerk Tina Peters has been charged with offenses including criminal impersonation, attempting to influence a public servant and official misconduct. A deputy clerk was also charged and has since been sentenced to two years of probation after pleading guilty.

As part of his ongoing effort to push debunked and false claims about widespread election fraud conspiracies, Lindell hosted a "cybersymposium" in August 2021 in which Peters appeared onstage. Attendees and state officials said a copy of Mesa County's voting system hard drive was distributed and posted online. The copy included proprietary software used by election offices around the country that experts said could allow anyone to probe the system for vulnerabilities.

Lindell, in his lawsuit, accuses agents of trying to "elicit allegedly incriminating evidence" by questioning him about those topics for nearly a half hour during the 40- to 45-minute encounter at the Mankato Hardee's. His civil complaint said that Lindell was not informed that authorities had a warrant to seize his phone until after they questioned him. At no point was he read his Miranda rights or advised that he had a right to have a lawyer present while being questioned, the complaint added.

"The federal agents had no authority to detain and question Mr. Lindell against his will," Lindell's lawyers wrote.

Lindell's complaint said he handed over the phone "under protest" after speaking with his lawyer. He said he runs MyPillow and "four affiliated businesses" off the seized phone. Without the phone, Lindell "has no ready access" to passwords needed for "essential computer programs, and financial transactions" through MyPillow bank accounts. The phone is also programmed to operate his hearing aids, Lindell added, and the phone has data that includes "attorney-client information."

Attorneys Andrew Parker of Minneapolis, Kurt Olsen in Washington D.C., and Patrick McSweeney of Powhatan, Va., each signed the complaint in representation of Lindell. The lawsuit names U.S. Attorney Merrick Garland, FBI Director Christopher Wray and Minnesota's U.S. Attorney — although Lindell's civil complaint does not reference Andrew Luger by name.

Lindell and MyPillow are still being sued for $1.3 billion in a defamation lawsuit from Dominion Voter Systems and Smartmatic. Lindell and his company have also filed suits of their own against the voting machine companies. All of that litigation is still pending.