Trump-appointed judge tells Mike Lindell he can’t have phone back that was seized by the FBI

MyPillow CEO and pro-Trump conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell lost his bid this Friday to get the phone back that was seized by the FBI in September, Law&Crime reports.

U.S. District Judge Eric C. Tostrud, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump, also rejected Lindell’s request to have the FBI cease scrutinizing the data inside the phone.

“Plaintiffs cannot show a likelihood of success on the merits of their claims for another important reason—that Plaintiffs impermissibly seek to rely on this Court’s equitable jurisdiction to enjoin a federal criminal investigation,” Tostrud wrote.

From Law&Crime:

Lindell and his company sued the FBI a week after agents seized his cell phone at a Hardee’s fast food drive-thru lane in Mankato, Minnesota, on Sept. 13, 2022. The MyPillow honcho said he’d been returning from a duck hunting trip with his friend in Iowa, when agents questioned him on a variety of topics and took his company-issued phone.

Though Lindell’s lawsuit alleged an array of constitutional violations — including his First Amendment rights to freely associate, his Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures, and Fifth Amendment due-process safeguards — Tostrud tossed each of these arguments aside in turn.

Read the full report over at Law&Crime.

Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.