MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell Ordered to Pay $5 Million to Expert Who Debunked His Election Claims

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell will have to pay up after offering a reward for anyone who could debunk a stolen election claim, and expert Robert Zeidman did just that, an arbitration panel ruled on Thursday.

The arbitration panel ruled that self-professed Donald Trump voter Robert Zeidman did indeed debunk Lindell’s specific claim that he had data from 2020 showing Chinese interference which proved voter fraud.

Lindell offered the prize of $5 million in a “Prove Mike Wrong” challenge, daring anyone to demonstrate that the data he provided was not from the 2020 election. Zeidman took up the challenge and submitted his findings, writing: “I have proven that the data Lindell provides … unequivocally does not contain packet data of any kind and do not contain any information related to the November 2020 election.”

Not only was the contest and reward of Lindell’s making, so was the panel that ruled against him. The binding arbitration was specified as the means of resolving any dispute in the “Prove Mike Wrong” challenge fine print, which Zeidman turned to after Lindell Management attempted to renege and stiff him.

Lindell now says they’ll be going to court.

Speaking with the Washington Post, Zeidman said the panel “clearly saw this as I did — that the data we were given at the symposium was not at all what Mr. Lindell said it was,” he said. “The truth is finally out there.”

Lindell, in a text reply to the Post, said: ““They made a terribly wrong decision! This will be going to court!”

CNN anchor Kate Bolduan spoke with correspondent Sara Murray about it on Thursday morning.

KATE BOLDUAN: This just in. MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell has now been ordered to pay out $5 million to an expert who debunked his 2020 election conspiracy theory. That’s according to a decision by the arbitration panel, which was obtained by CNN. This comes after Lindell, who repeatedly peddled election conspiracies. He vowed to award a multimillion dollar sum to any cybersecurity expert who could disprove his data. CNN’s Sara Murray is following the story. Sara, you have fresh reporting on this. What are you picking up?

SARA MURRAY: Well, look, Mike Lindell held this big cyber symposium in 2021. He invited experts. He invited journalists, he invited politicians to come and said, I’m going to give you this data that’s related to the 2020 election.

Lindell, of course, believed it was stolen. And he said, if you can debunk it, if you can prove it’s not related, I’ll give you $5 million. Well, a cybersecurity expert took him up on that. They went to arbitration and the arbitration panel said: this data is not related to the 2020 election. Mike Lindell, it’s time to pay up the $5 million.

So here is what an attorney for that cybersecurity expert now has to say about this decision. He says ‘the lawsuit and verdict mark another important moment in the ongoing proof that the 2020 election was legal and valid and the role of cybersecurity in ensuring that integrity.’

Now, as part of this story, we got access to some of the filings related to this arbitration. We also got access to some of the depositions. And in Mike Lindell’s deposition, he’s pretty confident he’s not going to have to pay this out. Take a look.

REPORTER (CLIP): When you have the idea for the “Prove Mike Wrong” challenge, did you have an expectation you might have to pay out $5 million?

MIKE LINDELL (CLIP): No. Why would I have that? Because I already had validated.

REPORTER (CLIP): So you didn’t have any concerns that someone might win the “Prove Mike Wrong” challenge?

MIKE LINDELL (CLIP): No, because they would have to show it wasn’t from 2020 and it was, you know.

SARA MURRAY: Now, whether this cybersecurity expert, Robert Zeidman, who brought this suit against Lindell ever gets his money, is still going to be an open question. I just spoke to Mike Lindell briefly on the phone. He assured me this is going to end up in court.

KATE BOLDUAN: That maybe is the only not surprising thing about this. It’s great to see you there.

Watch the clip above, via CNN.