MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell wins appeal of $5 million sham trial

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday in favor of MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, overturning a $5 million arbitration award to a software developer who claimed he disproved Lindell's data alleging foreign interference in the 2020 election.

A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said unanimously that the arbitration panel exceeded its authority by modifying the clear terms of the contest agreement to grant the award.

"Fair or not, agreed-to contract terms may not be modified by the panel or by this court," U.S. Circuit Judge James Loken wrote in the 12-page decision.

The ruling directs a lower court to vacate the award or hold further proceedings consistent with the reversal.

Lindell hosted a "Cyber Symposium" in South Dakota in 2021, where he presented data he said proved Chinese interference in the 2020 election that helped Democrat Joe Biden win. He offered $5 million to anyone who could prove the data was "unequivocally" unrelated to the election.

Software developer Robert Zeidman entered the contest and submitted a 15-page report claiming the data was invalid. Contest judges initially said he did not win, leading Zeidman to seek arbitration under the rules.

The arbitration panel ruled for Zeidman, saying he showed Lindell failed to provide packet capture data, known as PCAP files, proving the data was not related to the 2020 election.

The appeals court disagreed, saying the panel improperly used outside evidence to require PCAP data, violating Minnesota contract law.

"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," Loken wrote.

Brian Glasser, an attorney for Zeidman, defended the arbitration decision.

"Your readers can judge for themselves if the Eighth Circuit’s decision today is more persuasive, or rings in truth louder, than the unanimous contrary decision of three arbitrators who heard all the evidence, including one appointed by Mr. Lindell," Glasser said in an email to The Hill.

Separately, a Colorado jury last month ordered Lindell to pay $2.3 million in damages to a former Dominion Voting Systems employee in a defamation lawsuit.

"Before those would ever even get to trial, you’re going to see [what] the ‘big win’ will be, as you watch me melting down these machines and turning them into prison bars. That’s my big win," Lindell said.