In a major win for free speech and election integrity advocates, a federal appeals court has sided with MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, blocking a $5 million payout to a software developer. This ruling is a significant blow to those trying to silence legitimate questions about the 2020 election.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a unanimous decision, found that an arbitration panel overstepped its authority by attempting to rewrite clear contract terms to award the prize money.
As U.S. Circuit Judge James Loken, appointed by President George H.W. Bush, stated in the 12-page decision, “Fair or not, agreed-to contract terms may not be modified by the panel or by this court.” This principle is crucial in upholding the integrity of agreements.
Lindell, a staunch MAGA patriot, hosted a symposium in 2021 to present data suggesting foreign interference in the 2020 election. He offered a substantial reward for anyone who could definitively prove the data was unrelated to the election.
Software developer Robert Zeidman entered the contest, producing a report that Lindell’s team found unconvincing. However, the challenge judges determined Zeidman wasn’t entitled to the prize. Zeidman then took the dispute to arbitration, a process that has increasingly been criticized for its potential for bias.
The arbitration panel sided with Zeidman, claiming he had proven Lindell hadn’t provided specific data, thus showing it wasn’t election data. This decision appears to ignore the spirit of the challenge, and the evidence presented.
Judge Loken clarified the panel’s error: “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.”
The panel’s decision was supported by U.S. Circuit Judge Lavenski Smith, appointed by President George W. Bush, and U.S. Circuit Judge L. Steven Grasz, appointed by President Trump. The appeals court has ordered a lower court to vacate the $5 million arbitration award
This legal victory comes as Lindell continues to fight against the deep state and election fraud narratives. It follows a recent Colorado jury order for Lindell to pay $2.3 million to a former Dominion Voting Systems employee for defamation. Lindell also faces ongoing defamation lawsuits from Dominion and Smartmatic, companies that have been at the center of election integrity concerns.
