Supreme Court says no to Lindell’s request for hearing on cellphone confiscation

The U.S. Supreme Court won’t hear MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell’s claim that the FBI violated his First and Fourth Amendment rights by seizing his cellphone at a Hardee’s drive-thru two years ago.

The court revealed Monday that it had denied a request from Lindell to hear his appeal of a decision by the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Court records indicate the justices discussed the petition late last month and released their decision Monday without comment.

“Our government has been weaponized against Mike Lindell,” Lindell said in a phone call, referring to the proceedings as “classic lawfare.” Lindell said he will return to the District Court to try to get his phone back from the FBI.

His petition to the U.S. Supreme Court began by claiming the government is weaponizing the judicial process in an ongoing effort “to identify and retaliate against those who persist in questioning the integrity of computerized voting systems, particularly those used in the 2020 election.”

Lindell is the subject of a federal investigation into the security breach and publication of forensic images of election software used in the 2020 election in Mesa County, Colo. He has repeated the false claim that voting machines were rigged to illegally give more votes to President Joe Biden than former President Donald Trump.

Lindell’s petition said his cellphone contained “privileged communications among individuals,” including himself, “who have associated for the common purpose of protecting election integrity.”

The Eighth Circuit “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,” the petition said.

A three-judge panel of the Eighth Circuit ruled last year that the FBI had a proper warrant to seize and search the cellphone as part of a federal investigation.

The panel included Judges Ralph Erickson, James Loken and Steven Colloton. Erickson wrote the decision. Lindell asked for a hearing en banc in front of the full circuit, but was denied. He then sought review by the Supreme Court.

In the phone interview, Lindell said he’s the second-most attacked person in the United States next to Trump.

No charges have been filed in the federal investigation, but Lindell is the subject of multiple lawsuits regarding his false claims of widespread election fraud. He and Minnesota-based MyPillow face a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit from Dominion Voter Systems and Smartmatic. Lindell and MyPillow have also filed lawsuits against the voting machine companies.

A private arbitration panel has also ordered Lindell to pay a computer forensics expert $5 million after Lindell said he would pay that sum to anyone who could disprove data that he claimed showed Chinese interference in the 2020 election. Lindell is countersuing in that case.

Star Tribune staff writer Briana Bierschbach contributed to this story.