Lindell re-ups election fraud claims, says McGeachin-Little is next. She should sit it out
Some business owners are happy to carve out their niche in some corner of the world and build a fruitful life around it. Some are determined to conquer the universe, and they spend their lives amassing ever more wealth and power.
And some rise from nothing and build an empire only to be seized by narcissism and paranoia, and charge straight off a cliff, ending in a paroxysm of ludicrous self-indulgence and scandal.
Mike Lindell seems bound and determined to be the third kind of business owner.
Lindell is currently the founder and CEO of a company that sells overpriced pillows. It’s important to say “currently” because he is facing a series of massive defamation lawsuits — including a $1.3 billion suit by voting machine manufacturer Dominion Voting Systems.
Most recently, he tried to sue Dominion and Smartmatic, another voting machine company, but a judge tossed his lawsuits as frivolous and ordered him to pay their legal fees.
By the time all these lawsuits are over, Lindell may not own much beyond a bad mustache.
Because while pillows have made Lindell a small fortune, he’s made Donald Trump’s Big Lie his life’s project.
Lindell spread lies about Dominion and Smartmatic, claiming they and their employees had changed votes to give the election to President Joe Biden — the reason for their lawsuits against him.
And now he’s going to bat for Idaho Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin. Lawyer Ron Filipkowski on Tuesday tweeted a clip of Lindell claiming he has “evidence piled up all the way to the sun and back” that there was fraud in Idaho’s elections. In the broader clip, Lindell said he had a “team” in Idaho that would begin investigating election fraud — and he promised findings about election fraud would be presented in August.
Lindell repeated lies that Trump was robbed of some 60,000 votes in Idaho, something that has been investigated and debunked.
This isn’t the first time Lindell has told this lie about Idaho elections. In January, after meticulously investigating Lindell’s lies that Trump had secretly gotten more votes in Idaho than the vote total showed, Secretary of State Lawerence Denney and Attorney General Lawrence Wasden sent Lindell a cease and desist letter, along with a bill for the costs of the investigation.
(Lindell never complied. The lies are still posted on his website, to which I will not link. A lawsuit following up on the cease-and-desist letter might be a nice final strike for Wasden to call before he rides into the sunset.)
McGeachin, who was soundly beaten by Gov. Brad Little in the GOP primary in May, has made no statement about Lindell’s Idaho claims, though she made multiple appearances on Lindell’s online network during her campaign. She did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
McGeachin has had a decent run in Idaho politics. She had a long stint in the House. She had a flashy, if needlessly controversial, term as lieutenant governor. A quiet retirement beckons.
She would do well not to follow Lindell off the cliff. Nothing but ruin lies where he’s headed.
This story was originally published July 6, 2022 at 11:15 AM.