MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell Sues Jan. 6 House Select Committee Over Subpoenaed Cellphone Records
Authored by Katabella Roberts via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell has sued the House select committee investigating the origins of the Jan. 6 breach of the Capitol in an effort to stop telecommunications company Verizon from sharing his information with the panel.
Mike Lindell, CEO of MyPillow, speaks during a rally on the National Mall in Washington on Dec. 12, 2020. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)
The lawsuit (pdf) was filed in the U.S. District Court of Minnesota on Wednesday and names Verizon, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and other members of the panel.
Lindell filed the suit after the House select committee issued Verizon a subpoena for all of his records of communication on a cellphone he regularly uses for the period between Nov. 1, 2020, and Jan. 31, 2021.
“The Subpoena demands that Verizon produce certain records associated with a cell phone number regularly used by Mr. Lindell. The cell number was assigned for Mr. Lindell’s use by Verizon’s subscriber My Pillow, Inc,” the lawsuit states.
“Mr. Lindell brings this action seeking declaratory and injunctive relief to invalidate the Subpoena on several grounds and to prohibit its enforcement,” the lawsuit reads.
Lindell argues that the subpoena violates his First Amendment and Fourth Amendment rights.
“Enforcement of the Subpoena would violate the rights of Mr. Lindell and of his sources to freedom of religion, speech, press, political expression, and to associate with others to advance their shared beliefs,” the lawsuit states. “These rights are guaranteed by the First Amendment … Enforcement of the Subpoena would violate the right of Mr. Lindell to freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures, which is guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment.”
The lawsuit also claims individual members of the select committee “acted without authority because they were not validly organized as a House committee” under the rules of the United States House of Representatives.
Additionally, Lindell says that “even if the Select Committee could issue subpoenas, the Subpoena exceeds the authority of the Select Committee because it requires production of records that are far beyond the scope of the Select Committee’s investigation.”
Protesters supporting U.S. President Donald Trump gather near the east front door of the U.S. Capitol after groups breached the building’s security in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chairman of the House of Representatives panel investigating the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol breach, sitting beside panel vice chair Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), speaks in Washington on Oct. 19, 2021. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
“It is a veiled effort to conduct an unauthorized criminal investigation, and it is not in furtherance of a valid legislative purpose,” his lawyers wrote.
Lindell is seeking “declaratory and injunctive relief to invalidate the Subpoena on several grounds and to prohibit its enforcement” and is also asking to review the information sought by the subpoena before Verizon “so that he may assert any applicable claim of attorney-client or other privilege before the information is produced to the Select Committee.”
The Epoch Times has contacted the House select committee and Verizon for comment.
A supporter of former President Donald Trump, Lindell was advocating for election integrity amid allegations of widespread voting irregularities and election fraud following the November 2020 general election.
Lindell has questioned the results of the election on social media. In January 2021, he was temporarily banned from Twitter for repeatedly violating the company’s civic integrity policy. A month later, Twitter permanently suspended his account for violating its policy against “ban evasion.”
Early last year, the MyPillow CEO made headlines when he was photographed leaving the Oval Office with mysterious notes in his hand. Lindell told The Epoch Times that the notes, which appeared to refer to “martial law,” were not official and claimed he was helping deliver them from a lawyer who said it was a suggestion for Trump.
The nine-member bipartisan committee investigating the origins of the Jan. 6 breach of the Capitol has subpoenaed a number of people as part of its investigation, including former Trump national security adviser Mike Flynn, his former adviser Stephen Bannon and his former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows.
Congress went on to certify Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election after the certification session was interrupted when Trump supporters breached the Capitol in January.
Lindell told Insider on Wednesday that the subpoena was “election deflection” and that the Jan. 6 committee was “garbage.”
“This is all a big, big charade, and I’m not wasting my time on any garbage,” Lindell said. “This is an illegal, corrupt subpoena to get my phone records. I got nothing to hide, but I’m not giving them my records. Whatever happened to our right of free speech?”
“People who think this is a normal Democrat Party are sadly mistaken. This is deep state, CCP, China—China attacked our country. This is the biggest crime ever,” Lindell said.
Tyler Durden Fri, 01/07/2022 – 12:21
