MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, who has repeatedly argued the 2020 election was won through election fraud, has been ordered by a panel of arbitrators to pay $5 million to the winner of a “Prove Mike Wrong Challenge.”
The contest was announced by Lindell LLC in 2021. Lindell claimed he possessed a great deal of data that showed China had interfered with the November 2020 election in several states. He was frustrated he was not being taken seriously and so decided to hold a “Cyber Symposium” to provide the data to prove China’s interference. Lindell invited journalists, politicians and cybersecurity experts to attend. As part of the symposium, Lindell LLC announced the “Prove Mike Wrong Challenge” for anyone who could find proof this cyber data was not valid data from the November election. The winner was promised $5 million.
Lindell said during a deposition reviewed by CNN that he thought the contest would get him more attention: “I thought, well what if I put up a $5 million challenge out there, then it would get news, which it did.”
Robert Zeidman, a 63-year-old Trump voter who has decades in software development experience, was the only one who entered the contest, signing a contract agreeing to the rules. When he concluded that the data did not prove voter fraud and had no connection to the 2020 election, he wrote a 15-page report and submitted it to the judges. Lindell’s firm said the report was not up to snuff and refused to pay. Zeidman therefore turned to arbitration.
“The Panel was not asked to decide whether China interfered in the 2020 election. Nor was the Panel asked to decide whether Lindell LLC possessed data that proved such interference, or even whether Lindell LLC had election data in its possession,” wrote the arbitration panel in its decision. “The focus of the decision is on the 11 files provided to Mr. Zeidman in the context of the Contest rules.”
The panel reviewed each file and sided with Zeidman’s analysis.
“Based on the foregoing analysis, Mr. Zeidman performed under the contract,” the arbitrators wrote. “He proved the data Lindell LLC provided, and represented reflected information from the November 2020 election, unequivocally did not reflect November 2020 election data. Failure to pay Mr. Zeidman the $5 million prized was a breach of the contract, entitling him to recover.” The arbitrators directed Lindell’s firm to pay Zeidman in 30 days.
The decision is a blow to Lindell and his claims regarding the 2020 election. The MyPillow CEO also faces a $1.3 billion defamation suit from Dominion Voting Systems.
Just on Wednesday, the voting company settled a separate defamation suit with Fox News. According to Dominion’s lawyer, the settlement was for $787.5 million.
In an interview with CNN, Lindell said the decision of the arbitration panel “will end up in court.” He also slammed the media and argued once again that electronic voting machines should be jettisoned.
It’s unclear if Zeidman will ever be able to collect his payout. Lindell recently told Steve Bannon that his company took out nearly $10 million in loans as he battles defamation suits related to his false election claims, according to CNN.
“The lawsuit and verdict mark another important moment in the ongoing proof that the 2020 election was legal and valid, and the role of cybersecurity in ensuring that integrity,” said Brian Glasser, Zeidman’s attorney, in a statement. “Lindell’s claim to have 2020 election data has been definitively disproved.”
Zeidman himself also celebrated the decision.
“I am obviously really happy about the arbitrators’ decision. They clearly saw this as I did — that the data we were given at the symposium was not at all what Mr. Lindell said it was. The truth is finally out there,” Zeidman said.