Mike Lindell Says FBI Seized His Phone

Mike Lindell, CEO of MyPillow, speaks during a rally on the National Mall in Washington on Dec. 12, 2020. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell on Tuesday revealed that the FBI seized his phone earlier that day while he was at a Hardee’s drive-through in Mankato, Minnesota.

Lindell announced on his live-streamed show, “The Lindell Report,“ that he and a travel buddy had pulled into the drive-through after a fishing trip when his car was surrounded by FBI agents driving ”all different models” of cars.

While he was pulling his car up to the window, another car pulled up perpendicularly in front of Lindell’s car and cut him off.

“I‘d been around the block and I said to my buddy, I said, ’That’s either a bad guy, or it’s FBI.‘ I said that straight up. I said, ’It’s either FBI, or it’s a bad guy.' Not to say that some FBI guys can’t be bad guys. Right?” Lindell said.

A second car pulled up alongside Lindell’s car, he explained, before a third car pulled in behind his car in the drive-through, “pinning” him in.

Once they identified themselves as FBI, Lindell requested to see their badges and asked why they were there. Lindell noted that he wouldn’t know the difference between a real FBI badge and a fake one.

Lindell said the agents asked him about voting machines in Colorado and embattled Colorado Mesa County clerk Tina Peters, who oversees the county’s elections and recently pleaded not guilty to charges related to a security breach of her office’s election equipment.

The MyPillow CEO said he told the agents he doesn’t have a computer and relies on his phone to run five companies. He also said on his show that his hearing device is connected to the phone.

However, his lawyer told him over the phone that he would need to hand it over, and so he did. He noted that, based on the recent FBI raids of others, he knew they would take the phone by force if they had to.

Lindell also noted that he was not given a chance to back up his phone before the FBI took it.

According to the warrant, which Lindell displayed on his show, Lindell’s phone was subpoenaed as part of a federal grand jury investigation in Colorado. The warrant notes that he should not “disclose the existence of this subpoena for an indefinite period of time.”

The incident comes as allies of former President Donald Trump are being targeted by the FBI amid investigations.

An FBI spokesperson confirmed that agents were at the Hardees in Mankato executing a search warrant but could not confirm or deny what the investigation was for.

“This would include describing investigative steps we might or might not have taken, interviews we might or might not have conducted, and information we might or might not have learned,” FBI spokesperson Vikki Migoya told The Epoch Times via email.

“Without commenting on this specific matter, I can confirm that the FBI was at that location executing a search warrant authorized by a federal judge,” she continued. “Generally speaking, allegations of criminal conduct are reviewed by the FBI for their merit with consideration of any applicable federal laws, but such a review does not necessarily result in the opening of a full investigation.”

Migoya added that the FBI will, when warranted, take any actions “appropriate to the matter, such as seeking further information, referring the matter to a partner agency or referring our findings to the appropriate U.S. Attorney’s Office.”

Lindell Advocates for Election Integrity

Lindell is an advocate for election integrity and has been vocal about allegations of widespread voting irregularities and election fraud during the November 2020 general election.

The MyPillow CEO has questioned the results of the election on social media, leading to bans 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.”

In early 2021, he 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 Jan. 6 House committee has subpoenaed a number of people as part of its investigation, including Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn, his former adviser Stephen Bannon, and his former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.

Lindell sued the committee in an effort to stop telecommunications company Verizon from sharing his information with the panel.

Lindell filed the suit (pdf) 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 Epoch Times contacted Lindell for comment.

Zachary Stieber contributed to this report. This article was updated to include the FBI’s statement.