MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell has been denied access to the search warrant affidavit justifying the FBI seizure of his cellphone.
A federal judge, Eric Tostrud from the District of Minnesota, made the decision in an order Thursday, declaring that the government “demonstrated a compelling interest in the ongoing criminal investigation” that outweighs Lindell’s right of access.
Tostrud also denied Lindell’s request for an injunction. Lindell plans to appeal, his lawyer told the Washington Examiner.
Lindell’s phone was taken at a Hardee’s drive-thru in Minnesota in September. He said agents questioned him about a Colorado clerk charged in an alleged scheme to breach voting machines. Lindell has not been charged with a crime.
“The extensive, 80-page search warrant affidavit describes in considerable detail ‘the nature, scope, and direction of the government’s investigation and the individuals and specific [activities] involved,’ including information obtained from recorded communications, confidential informants, and cooperating witnesses,” the judge’s order said in explaining reasons to keep the search warrant materials under seal.
The businessman is a prominent supporter of former President Donald Trump and has boosted claims of election fraud in the 2020 election, which has gotten him sued by voting machine companies.
JUST IN: A federal judge has denied Mike LINDELL’s effort to access to search warrant affidavit justifying the seizure of his phone. The government, he said, had “demonstrated a compelling interest in the ongoing criminal investigation.”
Judge also denied his injunction request. pic.twitter.com/Iha4VKODqy
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) November 3, 2022
Soon after Lindell sued the Justice Department and FBI, Tostrud, a Trump appointee, rejected Lindell’s request to reclaim his phone. Lindell allegeD in this case that federal agents violated his rights under the First, Fourth, and Fifth amendments.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“The government has taken Mike Lindell’s cell phone and is looking through thousands of pieces of private information including his contacts, associations, financial and business information, medical information, and other personal information,” Lindell lawyer Andrew Parker told the Washington Examiner in a statement Friday.
“While the government has certain latitude to conduct investigations, it has no right to seize and rifle through a person’s entire life (which is often stored on one’s cellphone) when that information is wholly unrelated to any investigation,” Parker added. “The digital age allows for search segregation of information and when the government conducts searches without first presenting protocols and safeguards to a court for approval at the time of seeking a warrant to seize the cellphone, they violate the US Constitution. To our knowledge, that did not occur here. General search warrants of peoples’ homes were ruled unconstitutional during colonial times. This is a modern day general search warrant and this type of search and seizure of information and property should concern us all.”
