‘I don’t have any money’: Mike Lindell tells judge he can’t abide by his own proposed payment plan to erase over $50K in sanctions for ‘frivolous’ lawsuit against Smartmatic

Under an avalanche of litigation, erstwhile bedding titan and stalwart predetermination denialist Mike Lindell is thing not wholly dissimilar broke, helium told a national tribunal successful Washington, D.C., connected Wednesday.

Lindell presently owes $56,369 implicit frivolous claims successful a failed suit against voting bundle and hardware institution Smartmatic Corp.

In the case, the underlying lawsuit was filed by Dominion Voting Systems, accusing Lindell and his once-profitable company, MyPillow, of slander implicit mendacious claims astir the 2020 election. Lindell past sued some voting companies and lost. Smartmatic, successful turn, moved for sanctions. The tribunal sided with Smartmatic in 2022, but it was not until the institution prodded precocious past year for their grant that the dollar magnitude was yet decided. On Jan. 13, U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols, a President Donald Trump appointee, substantially pared down Lindell’s liability and ordered him to wage the equilibrium due.

Now, Lindell says helium simply cannot wage what helium owes.

“I’m successful ruins,” the pro-Trump conspiracy theorist told the judge, done tears, according to a courtroom study by ABC News.

The proceeding was necessitated by a Smartmatic question past month to clasp Lindell successful civilian contempt. Smartmatic claims Lindell is “violating the wide and unambiguous terms” of the bid to pay.

“Smartmatic continues to hold to beryllium made whole,” the institution alleged. “Despite the Court’s wide and unambiguous ruling earlier this twelvemonth that Lindell compensate Smartmatic for the fees it spent litigating Lindell’s frivolous claims, Lindell inactive has not paid, nor has helium meaningfully engaged successful immoderate discussions oregon negotiations.”

A hodgepodge of excuses for continued nonpayment successful hand, Lindell was capable to person Nichols to clasp disconnected connected issuing a ruling until the tribunal was capable to inspect the defendant’s finances.

“Nobody volition get maine immoderate more,” Lindell told the judge, according to a courtroom study by D.C.-based CBS affiliate WUSA. “Not 1 dime.”

One crushed Lindell cited was a combined $70 cardinal successful debt. Another crushed was garnishment by the Internal Revenue Service.

The large bulk of that debt, Lindell claimed, was owed to “lawfare” against him implicit self-described efforts to “secure the election.”

More Law&Crime coverage: ‘Despite aggregate promises to pay’: MyPillow sued for astir $9 cardinal by FedEx who claims Mike Lindell personally reached retired astir unpaid debts and ‘delinquencies’

Pleading a benignant of embarrassment known to the formerly wealthy, Lindell told the justice helium present lives connected $1,000 per week.

His assets, helium said, were constricted to 2 houses, which helium was successful the process of liquidating — and 1 truck. This, successful Lindell’s estimation, amounted to “nothing.”

“I borrowed everything I can. Nobody volition lend maine immoderate wealth anymore,” the pillow salesman told the court. “I can’t crook backmost clip … but I volition archer you, I don’t person immoderate money.”

On the concern broadside of things, Lindell claimed that formerly booming MyPillow was precocious forced to occurrence hundreds of employees and had mislaid respective warehouses since the 2020 election.

The sum of these fiscal difficulties combined, Lindell said, means helium cannot adjacent marque $5,000 monthly payments to Smartmatic — an magnitude helium projected successful a anterior arrangement.

“I don’t person $5,000 oregon 5 cents,” the suspect said.

Nichols listened to the bittersweet communicative and yet determined Lindell had made a “non-verifiable representation” of his fiscal status.

To that end, the suspect has until Friday to file, nether seal, documents proving his purportedly dire fiscal straits.

Lindell, for his part, said helium welcomed the accidental to beryllium his comparative poorness to some the tribunal and Smartmatic.

“I person thing to hide,” Lindell said.

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The Smartmatic sanctions are the extremity of Lindell’s fiscal iceberg.

In a long-running lawsuit, Lindell Management LLC has been repeatedly rebuked by the courts for its refusal to wage $5 cardinal to the victor of a “Prove Mike Wrong” challenge.

In March 2024, a Minnesota region justice ruled against MyPillow successful an eviction hearing, uncovering that the institution owed implicit $200,000 successful unpaid rent for a warehouse successful Shakopee.

Then, successful January, a justice ordered MyPillow to pay $777,000 to a transportation company. Days aboriginal came the judge’s bid successful the Smartmatic case. Last month, a national justice successful different jurisdiction, successful a related case, ordered Lindell to pay Smartmatic’s attorneys’ fees.

From the plaintiff’s perspective, successful the past fewer months, assorted MyPillow-related firm entities have sued a postulation of merchant currency beforehand companies implicit allegedly usurious loans.