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MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell estimates that he has spent $25 million trying to overturn the 2020 election.
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Lindell told Insider that he is willing to spend everything he has and “sell everything” for his cause.
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Lindell estimated that at least $10 million went into building Frank Speech, his social media platform.
MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell — estimated to have a net worth of around $50 million — revealed this week that he has spent a whopping $25 million pushing unsubstantiated voter fraud claims.
This staggering number was first reported by CNBC’s Brian Schwartz, who spoke to Lindell about how much he has invested in his efforts since Election Day to prove that widespread election fraud occurred. CNBC reported that Lindell spent most of the $25 million sum paying lawyers and cyber investigators and organizing a 72-hour cyber symposium he held in Sioux Falls earlier this year.
Speaking to Insider on Thursday night, Lindell confirmed the $25 million figure, adding that the breakdown included a $10 million sum that he spent building Frank Speech, his social media platform from which he broadcasts nightly.
“(The number) includes building FrankSpeech.com, so I have a place for free speech,” Lindell told Insider, adding that he thinks the “biggest obstacle” to saving America is conservative media. “Especially Fox, Newsmax, Salem, etcetera. They are the worst as they have canceled our voice! They won’t talk about the 2020 election or anything against the (COVID-19) vaccines.”
“I will spend everything I have and sell everything I have if that’s what it takes,” Lindell added, referring to his campaign to overturn the 2020 election and re-instate Trump as president.
Lindell estimated that around $500,000 has gone into paying lawyers representing him in his legal battle with Dominion. The voting systems company sued Lindell for $1.3 billion, and MyPillow is counter-suing Dominion for $1.6 billion.
The pillow executive added that part of the cash invested into his post-2020 election-fraud crusade has also funded a legal team for Tina Peters, a GOP clerk in Mesa County, Colorado. Peters is accused by prosecutors of allowing an unauthorized consultant to gain access to the county’s voting machines.
Insider has reached out to Tina Peters to confirm this claim.
According to CNBC’s report, Lindell also contributed cash to Women for America First, one of the permit holders for the January 6 rally in Washington where Trump called on his supporters to march to the Capitol. Lindell denied that he was a donor for the group, but said he paid $100,000 for an ad on the bus which brought members of the organization to Washington.
“I spent a lot on flying myself and teams to different states to prove that the election crimes happened in their states too,” Lindell told Insider on Thursday night. “I am spending a lot more of late, as we are getting access to many (voting) machines and doing massive canvassing in over 40 states.”
In a separate estimate to CNBC, Lindell said MyPillow lost around $80 million when retailers stopped selling his bedding products. This is up from an earlier number reported by Insider in February, where Lindell said he expected to lose $65 million in pillow revenue because of the retailer boycotts.
Fueled by a staunch belief in the baseless theory that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from former President Donald Trump, Lindell has continued to push a slew of Trump’s voter-fraud claims.
In a court filing, voting-machine maker Smartmatic in December accused Lindell of going on a “crusade without a cause,” arguing that his allegations that voting machines enabled voter fraud to happen are “fictitious.”
There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud. However, Lindell has held multiple events, from the cyber-symposium to a recently-concluded 96-hour marathon “Thanks-a-Thon” live stream in November, in a bid to convince more people that voter fraud did occur.
Lindell earlier promised his supporters that he would get a Supreme Court complaint — which baselessly claims widespread election fraud in the 2020 election — to the court before Thanksgiving. However, he failed to make the deadline.
Lindell told Insider on Thursday that changes have since been made to the complaint that “should be done” by this coming Monday.
Read the original article on Business Insider
