Judge Finds Probable Cause in Complaint Over Lindell's Pillow Giveaway

An administrative law judge in Minnesota has found probable cause to believe that Mike Lindell, the MyPillow founder and a candidate for governor, violated state campaign finance law by handing out free pillows at a public event last month.

In a four-page ruling issued Thursday, Judge Nicholas Lienesch found that a complaint against Lindell contained enough to move on to an evidentiary hearing before a three-judge administrative panel.

"There is probable cause to believe that the pillows in this case were a thing of monetary value and were not explicitly exempted by any provision of the statute," Lienesch wrote. "There is probable cause to believe that the pillows were distributed in order to induce a voter to vote in a particular way at an election."

The ruling does not find that Lindell broke the law. Lienesch wrote that he was determining whether "sufficient facts exist in the record to believe that a violation of the law has occurred."

The complaint was brought by Dan Fiskum, a Democrat running for state Senate, who said Lindell threw free pillows from the company he founded at a Fourth of July parade event in Delano, Minnesota. Under Minnesota law, it is impermissible to give away or promise something of monetary value to induce a voter to vote a particular way or to refrain from voting. Food and beverages valued at less than $5 are exempted. Lindell has said the pillows were bought wholesale for $4.90 each.

Reached for comment Friday, Lindell called the complaint "complete nonsense."

"It's been a nonstop campaign since President Trump endorsed me three weeks ago," he said, saying he had checked the giveaway in advance with Minnesota's campaign finance board. "We got everything completely OKed. This is just a catch-up right before the primary to put doubt in people's heads. We did everything right. There was no law broken, period." He added: "It's just an attack. It's disgusting."

At a hearing Monday, Lindell said he saw no difference between the pillows, which came with campaign literature, and typical campaign trinkets such as buttons and keychains, comparing the giveaway to his campaign buying and distributing his memoir, What Are the Odds? From Crack Addict to CEO. Asked by the Minnesota Star Tribune what a pillow was worth to recipients, Lindell said most went to children who "like a good night's sleep and hug that pillow," though he acknowledged sleep patterns "would be subjective between each individual."

Lindell is running against six Republican rivals, including Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth and state GOP-endorsed candidate Kendall Qualls, and seven Democrats, including Sen. Amy Klobuchar. The primary is next week.

On Tuesday, Lindell said he was stepping down as MyPillow CEO to focus his "time and energy" on the race, calling it "one of the biggest decisions" of his life. His MyPillow fortune, once valued at $300 million, has diminished in recent years amid defamation lawsuits and financial judgments over his claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged.