MyPillow's Mike Lindell is peddling an election machine 'security' device. But voting officials aren't biting

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MyPillow's Mike Lindell is peddling an election machine 'security' device. But voting officials aren't biting​

LAURA ROMERO
November 3, 2023 at 9:42 AM
MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, one of the leading promoters of false 2020 election fraud claims, is facing pushback from election officials and experts after announcing the rollout of a device that he says can help keep elections secure.
Lindell says the wireless monitoring device, which was formally unveiled two weeks ago after Lindell first announced it in August at his so-called Election Crime Bureau Summit, is designed to detect if voting machines are connected to the internet.
The MyPillow CEO, who falsely claims that voting machines were manipulated to steal the 2020 election from Donald Trump, is facing defamation lawsuits from the voting machine companies Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic. Lindell has denied wrongdoing.
MORE: Voting machine company sues pro-Trump pillow man over false election claims
Lindell told ABC News that the monitoring devices have already been sent, at no charge, to election officials in several states including Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and Missouri.
"We hope to have them in all 50 states," Lindell said.
"All it does is tell you if a [voting machine] is hooked up to the internet and transmitting," Lindell said. "It's already been checked out ... 100% legal."
Investigators have, at times in the past, found isolated instances where computer systems that control voting machines were unknowingly connected to the internet. But election officials ABC News spoke with said that, generally speaking, Lindell's device is meant to solve a problem that doesn't exist.

PHOTO: MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell waves as he is introduced while former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at Sioux Gateway Airport, Nov. 3, 2022, in Sioux City, Iowa. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
Erran Huber, director of communications for Jefferson County, Kentucky, told ABC News their office "has no practical purpose for the devices" because their voting machines are "physically incapable" of receiving wireless internet connections.
"It is against the law in Kentucky for voting machines to be connected to the internet," Jim Luersen, the clerk for Campbell County, told ABC News.
Michon Lindstrom, director of communications for Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams, said the same thing.
"The presence of Wi-Fi in a building does not mean that ballot scanners are connected to the internet," Lindstrom said. "State law prohibits that, and we do not certify ballot scanners for use if they have any capacity for connectivity."

Beyond questions about the device's usefulness, election officials said that in order for any new technology to be used during elections, it must undergo a process of approval and testing. Lindell cannot "just send devices to clerks and expect them to be used," one election official told ABC News.

PHOTO: Voters cast their ballot at a polling location in Southfield, Mich., Nov. 3, 2020. (Emily Elconin/Bloomberg via Getty Images, FILE)
"It's a regulated field," said Brianna Lennon, the clerk for Boone County, Missouri. "Our voting equipment is certified both at the federal level by the Election Assistance Commission, and then it is certified again at the Secretary of State's level before we are allowed to purchase it."
As a result, said Lennon of Lindell's device, "I do not intend to use it for anything."
One county in Kentucky banned such devices in October after being made aware of them.
"On October 20, 2023, the Kenton County Board of Elections voted unanimously [to] deny entry to a polling location to any person possessing an electronic device, if that device is to be used for the purpose of recording or interfering with the proper functioning of any voting equipment," said Gabrielle Summe, the Chair of the County Board of Elections.
Lindell told ABC News that each device cost him $500 to manufacture, and that he plans to send out 1,000 devices to at least three states that are conducting elections this month.
MORE: How My Pillow went from infomercial fame to the CEO's Twitter ban
Lindell said the inventor of the device is Dennis Montgomery, a computer programmer who was subpoenaed by voting machine company Smartmatic for documents and testimony the company said is relevant to its defamation suit against Lindell. According to a status conference record, Montgomery satisfied the request after he sat for a deposition.
Montgomery did not respond to requests for comment by ABC News.
Larry Norden, the senior director of the Elections and Government Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan voter advocacy group, called Lindell's devices and his continuous push to spread false claims about the 2020 election and voting machines "dangerous."
"This is more peddling of his lies about election equipment," Norden said regarding the device. "And I think the most important thing to know about voting machines in the United States is that virtually all of them have a paper record of every vote."
"Mike Lindell has gotten away with lying a lot about elections, but it's not without consequences and not without harms to individuals who work in elections -- and more broadly to the functioning of our democratic system," Norden said.

 

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BREAKING: BRAVO! BANKRUPT TRUMP'S PAID LIAR!!! Dominion Voting Systems sues Rudy Giuliani for $1.3 BILLION in damages for defamation over false election claims he spread help Trump steal the election.

Dominion Voting Systems sues Rudy Giuliani over false election claims, seeks $1.3 billion
The complaint outlines evidence of Giuliani’s false claims about how Dominion allegedly “fixed” the election.

Rudy Giuliani departs after leading a news conference about the election results on Nov. 19, 2020, in Washington.Jonathan Ernst / Reuters file


Jan. 25, 2021, 8:12 AM EST / Updated Jan. 25, 2021, 9:38 AM EST
By Rebecca Shabad
WASHINGTON — Dominion Voting Systems, an election equipment manufacturer that became the target of wild conspiracies pushed by former President Donald Trump and his allies, sued Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani for defamation on Monday.
Dominion said in a 107-page complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that “as a result of the defamatory falsehoods peddled by Giuliani” in conjunction with other Trump allies and pro-Trump media outlets, “Dominion’s founder and employees have been harassed and received death threats, and Dominion has suffered unprecedented and irreparable harm.”



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“Dominion brings this action to set the record straight, to vindicate the company’s rights under civil law, to recover compensatory and punitive damages, and to stand up for itself, its employees, and the electoral process,” the lawsuit says.

The company accuses Giuliani, who helped fuel Trump’s lie about a stolen election, of making false and defamatory statements about Dominion on his Twitter account, on his radio and podcast shows, in televised media appearances and at the rally that Trump held before his supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Dominion is seeking more than $1.3 billion in damages, according to the complaint, which was first reported by The New York Times. The company also said it is demanding a trial by jury on all claims.
Dominion said Giuliani and his allies created and spread what it calls the "big lie," in which it "deceived millions into believing that Dominion had stolen their votes and fixed the election."
The suit says Giuliani, in addition to demanding a reported $20,000 a day to represent Trump, "cashed in" on the conspiracy by hosting a podcast where he advertised supplements, gold coins, cigars and protection from "cyberthieves."
The complaint outlines evidence of Giuliani’s false claims about how Dominion allegedly “fixed” the election, which resulted in Trump’s defeat and Joe Biden’s victory. It includes screenshots from Giuliani’s TV appearances on Fox News and Fox Business and his tweets that spread conspiracy theories about the election. Dominion also presented how Giuliani's lies affected his followers.
It showed, for example, screenshots of Giuliani speaking on his podcast from Christmas Day about Dominion, with one viewer commenting, "All these people involved with the fraud need to be executed for treason."
Dominion CEO John Poulos said in a statement, "Not only have these lies damaged the good name of my company, but they also undermined trust in American democratic institutions, drowning out the remarkable work of elections officials and workers, who ensured a transparent and secure election. The thousands of hand recounts and audits that proved machines counted accurately continue to be overshadowed by disinformation.
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"Giuliani continues to make demonstrably false claims, and we intend to hold him, and others who spread disinformation, to account," Poulos said.
The lawsuit comes after Dominion sued lawyer Sidney Powell, who pushed Trump’s attempts to overturn election results, for defamation earlier this month. In that lawsuit, Dominion also said it was requesting damages of more than $1.3 billion, saying it has spent millions on security for its employees and on damage control to its reputation and risks losing future business.
In a Zoom press conference Monday, Tom Clare, an attorney representing Dominion, said the company was working on additional defamation suits related to misinformation stemming from the 2020 election, and suggested the company may still take action against the former president.
"We have not ruled anyone out," he said in response to a question about Trump.
Dominion is one of the country's largest election equipment vendors, and its products were used in 28 states in the 2020 election. The company was recently contracted to replace the bulk of voting machines in Georgia, where Biden won in an upset against Trump. Trump became particularly inflamed by that loss, spreading misinformation about voting in Georgia and begging the state's head election official to overturn the results.
While cybersecurity researchers have uncovered some flaws in election equipment in recent years, the world's top election security experts have signed an open letter that there was no evidence of computer fraud affecting the 2020 election.
"We are aware of alarming assertions being made that the 2020 election was 'rigged' by exploiting technical vulnerabilities," they wrote. "However, in every case of which we are aware, these claims either have been unsubstantiated or are technically incoherent.

 

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‘They’re Trying To Cancel Me’: MyPillow CEO Says Retailers Have Dropped The Brand Amid His Baseless Voter Fraud Claims

Robert HartForbes Staff
Business
I cover breaking news.
Updated Jan 19, 2021, 08:31am EST
TOPLINE
MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, a prominent Trump ally, says major retailers have dropped his products amid his continued spread of baseless voter fraud conspiracies and claims that the election was rigged against Trump, which have prompted backlash online and an “imminent” defamation lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems.

MyPillow CEO said his products are being remove from stores.
GETTY IMAGESKEY FACTS
Wayfair, Bed Bath & Beyond, Kohl’s and H-E-B have all dropped MyPillow products, Lindell told the Right Side Broadcasting Network's Brian Glenn Monday, confirming the news in a later interview with Fox 9.
"I just got off the phone with Bed Bath & Beyond... they're dropping MyPillow,” he said, adding that “Kohl's, all these different places" are dropping the products because “they’re scared.”
Lindell claimed the retailers are bowing to pressure from “leftist groups” on social media, where his continued support of election conspiracies has ignited calls for retailers to drop the brand.
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The move comes after one activist group, Sleeping Giants, called on major retailers to stop carrying MyPillow products after a video of Lindell emerged where he reportedly “called for the insurrection” at the Capitol on Jan. 6.
“This is the only time we have in history to beat these guys, to suppress the evil, and beat the evil,” Lindell said in the video.
Lindell described the group as “the most evil people on the planet,” adding that "they're trying to cancel me out."
KEY BACKGROUND
Trump’s penchant for embracing factually inaccurate theories has meshed well with the outlandish ideas Lindell champions. Lindell took on a controversially high-profile role in the president’s coronavirus messaging and strategy, pushing unproven and possibly dangerous treatments for the disease. He has also been a leading proponent of baseless voter fraud conspiracies that suggest the election was rigged against Trump. He has continued to tout these after Trump’s legal efforts were struck down in over 50 courts and Biden had been certified winner of the Electoral College, prompting Dominion Voting Systems to threaten legal action. Recently, Lindell was photographed outside the White House carrying a document that appeared to bear the phrases “insurrection act now” and “martial law if necessary,” as well as seemingly suggesting installing Kash Patel, a Trump loyalist currently leading the Pentagon transition, as CIA director.