Mike Lindell Plans to Fund Recount for Minnesota GOP Primary

Mike Lindell, the founder of MyPillow and a strong supporter of Donald Trump, has announced his intention to finance a complete recount in Minnesota’s GOP primary for governor. In this primary, Lindell lost by 11 percentage points to state House Speaker Lisa Demuth on August 11.

Speaking with NBC News, Lindell revealed his initiative to investigate the primary by hiring his own team. He also contacted the Minnesota secretary of state’s office for a cost estimation of a full recount. The office’s general counsel, Lauren Bethke, communicated through a letter that the recount and audit would total around $825,000.

Lindell anticipates the expense could reach as high as $1 million due to additional actions, such as employing a separate team for the investigation. He stated his willingness to cover the costs.

Though Lindell has not yet submitted an official recount request, he intends to personally deliver it on Monday. Bethke’s letter outlined that Lindell must provide the recount request with a bond, cash, or surety by Monday to proceed.

Lindell plans to send observers to oversee the recount process. He awaits the confirmation of locations from the office where counties will conduct the recounts.

On Tuesday, Lindell released a statement asserting that his team identified several “irregularities” in election data. He believes these discrepancies result from electronic voting machines. He views this recount as a step towards eliminating such machines.

Although Lindell had Trump’s endorsement for the primary, he faces multiple legal challenges. Voting machine companies have sued him over his false claims regarding the 2020 election. A federal judge imposed sanctions on Lindell for defamation against Smartmatic USA Corp., totaling $56,369. After refusing to pay, Lindell incurred additional daily fines of $500.

Lindell’s lawyers addressed U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Bryan, requesting a motion to reconsider the defamation ruling. They cited “newly available evidence” from documents on election security released by Trump in July. However, these documents did not substantiate claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.

Despite the challenges, Lindell insists that the documents validate his fraud claims and vows to continue contesting Smartmatic, regardless of the judge’s decision on the case.