Appeals court hands Mike Lindell win in fight over $5M election fraud contest

A federal appeals court ruled in favor of MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell on Wednesday in his bid to avoid paying $5 million to a software developer who declared victory in Lindell’s contest to disprove his claims of foreign interference in the 2020 election. 

The three-judge 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel’s unanimous decision found an arbitration panel exceeded its power by changing unambiguous contract terms to award the developer Lindell’s prize. 

“Fair or not, agreed-to contract terms may not be modified by the panel or by this court,” U.S. Circuit Judge James Loken wrote in the 12-page decision. 

In an interview, Lindell called the lawsuit a “setup.”

“This is vindication. This opens a door that no man can shut. I am so excited. I mean, this is an answer to prayer,” Lindell told The Hill.

Lindell hosted a “Cyber Symposium” in South Dakota in 2021, where he showed data claiming Chinese election interference in former President Biden’s 2020 victory. Lindell offered $5 million if someone could prove the data was “unequivocally” not related to the 2020 election. 

Software developer Robert Zeidman, a contestant, produced a 15-page report rebuffing Lindell’s data. But the challenge judges said Zeidman wasn’t entitled to the prize. Zeidman brought the dispute into arbitration, in accordance with contest rules.  

After a hearing, the arbitration panel ruled in his favor. The panel concluded Zeidman had proven Lindell had not provided packet capture data, often referred to as PCAP files, and therefore had shown it was not election data. 

“We conclude that the panel effectively amended the unambiguous Challenge contract when it used extrinsic evidence to require that the data provided was packet capture data, thereby violating established principles of Minnesota contract law and our arbitration precedents,” Loken wrote in the opinion. 

Loken is an appointee of former President George H. W. Bush. His decision was joined by U.S. Circuit Judge Lavenski Smith, appointed by the former President George W. Bush; and U.S. Circuit Judge L. Steven Grasz, appointed by President Trump. 

The decision instructs a lower court to immediately wipe the $5 million arbitration award or conduct further proceedings in line with the appeals court’s reversal. 

Brian Glasser, Zeidman’s attorney, defended the arbitration decision when reached for comment.

“Your readers can judge for themselves if the Eight Circuit’s decision today is more persuasive, or rings in truth louder, than the unanimous contrary decision of three arbitrators who heard all the evidence, including one appointed by Mr. Lindell,” Glasser said in an email.

Lindell has been embroiled in litigation over his baseless claims of mass election fraud in the 2020 election.

Last month, a Colorado jury ordered Lindell pay $2.3 million to a former Dominion Voting Systems employee who sued him for defamation. Lindell also faces defamation lawsuits that remain ongoing from both Dominion and Smartmatic, another voting systems company.

“Before those would ever even get to trial, you’re going to see the big win will be as you watch me melting down these machines and turning them into prison bars. That’s my big win,” Lindell said.

Updated at 1:51 p.m. EDT