Mike Lindell Says He Has No Money After Being Ordered to Pay $5 Million

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, a Donald Trump ally who, without evidence, has said widespread voter fraud put Joe Biden in the White House in 2020, said he plans to appeal a $5 million ruling against him.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge John R. Tunheim upheld an April 2023 ruling that requires Lindell to pay computer forensics expert Robert Ziedman $5 million, who debunked his 2020 election data. Lindell maintains the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump and has spent $40 million in his efforts to prove it.

After the ruling, Lindell told War Room podcast host Steve Bannon that he will appeal the decision and that Zeidman won't "see a dime."

"I don't have any money," Lindell told NBC News after the ruling. "I have a pickup truck and a house that I live in. That's it."

The case stemmed from a 2021 symposium in which Lindell said he possessed data that proved Chinese interference affected the results of the presidential race. He offered $5 million to anyone who could prove his data did not come from the election.

This isn't the first time that Lindell has expressed concerns about his financial situation. In October 2023, Lindell said he wasn't able to pay his attorneys, who had requested to withdraw from representing him. He said he had only $10,000 "to my name."

Despite the financial burden, Lindell told Newsweek on Thursday afternoon that he will continue with the plan to secure election platforms.

"This is just another attack and distraction," Lindell said.

Zeidman told Newsweek on Thursday that the book he wrote about his experience with Lindell, Election Hacks, was a broad lesson on how to "challenge our own beliefs and seek truth even when that truth may turn out to belie your beliefs and alienate your friends."

"I didn't bring this lawsuit for the money but to bring awareness of Mike Lindell's spread of false information about voting machine hacking," Zeidman said. "Having said that, it would be nice to get that money, and this decision brings me one step closer.

"If Mr. Lindell runs out of appeals and does not run out of money, so that I do end up getting the $5 million, I plan to donate to nonprofits that research and promote election integrity," he said.

Lindell, who founded MyPillow in 2004, has lamented how his memoir, What Are the Odds? From Crack Addict to CEO, has been banned from "every bookstore in the country," including an online Christian book site.

On Monday, he told former Trump adviser Steve Bannon on his War Room podcast that the book includes stories about going from "being a crack addict to Jesus." He added that he "surrendered to Jesus Christ" and joined the Christian faith seven years ago.

The pair reconvened on Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) and spoke about the arbitration panel's ruling, with Bannon telling Lindell, "They're trying to put Trump, you and Rudy [Giuliani] in bankruptcy."

"That was for that challenge from back in the cyber symposium of '21, and the media's all down at that end just attacking me from around the world," Lindell told Bannon, according to news website Raw Story.

"But I'm welcoming it, I want to tell them, Hey, we have to get rid of the electronic voting machines and go to paper ballots hand-counted," Lindell said. He also vowed to continue "to secure our elections."

Earlier this month, during an appearance on Bannon's podcast, Lindell criticized Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and called for her to step down because he believes she doesn't support strong election security.

After losing accreditation from the Better Business Bureau in 2017 after myriad consumer complaints about MyPillow's advertising methods, Lindell's company and its product were dropped by major vendors, including Kohl's, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Walmart and Slumberland Furniture.

Correction 02/23/24, 5:06 p.m. ET: This article and headline was updated to reflect that Lindell said he had "no money" after the ruling, not that he only had $10,000 to his name.