Mike Lindell’s Recount Initiative in Minnesota GOP Primary
Mike Lindell, known for his strong support of former President Trump and as the founder of MyPillow, is planning to personally finance a recount of the Minnesota GOP primary for governor. Lindell, who lost the race by 11 percentage points, is challenging the win of state House Speaker Lisa Demuth. Lindell has hired his own team to investigate the primary results and has contacted the Minnesota secretary of state’s office to obtain a cost estimate for the recount.
According to a letter from the secretary of state’s general counsel, Lauren Bethke, a full hand recount and audit would cost about $825,000. Lindell anticipates that the expenses will rise to “upwards of $1 million” due to additional actions, such as employing his own investigative team. Despite these costs, Lindell is determined to proceed.
As of Wednesday, the secretary of state’s office had not received an official recount request. Bethke’s letter outlined that Lindell needs to submit a formal request along with a financial commitment by Monday to initiate the process. Lindell plans to deliver this request himself and is arranging for observers at recount sites once their locations are confirmed.
In a statement, Lindell claimed that his team identified several “irregularities” linked to electronic voting machines. While acknowledging that the recount might not change the election outcome, he expressed hope that it will lead to the elimination of these machines. Lindell’s persistence comes despite facing multiple lawsuits for false claims about the 2020 election.
In January, a federal judge ruled that Lindell defamed Smartmatic USA Corp., a voting machine company, ordering him to pay $56,369. His refusal to comply led to a daily fine of $500, accumulating to exceed the initial sanctions. Lindell’s attorneys have since requested the court to reconsider the ruling, citing new documentation released by Trump regarding election security. However, these documents do not support widespread voter fraud claims.
Lindell remains committed to challenging the ruling against Smartmatic, regardless of the judge’s decision about reconsideration. He asserts that the recently released documents validate his stance on election fraud.