Overview
- An administrative law judge concluded there was probable cause on Thursday, Aug. 6, and ordered the complaint be assigned to a panel of three administrative law judges for an evidentiary hearing whose date has not been set.
- A July 22 complaint alleges Lindell handed out campaign‑branded pillows at a Delano Fourth of July parade, that the packaging read “Mike Lindell for Governor,” and that the complaint values each pillow at $34.95.
- Lindell has acknowledged distributing the pillows, provided affidavits, photographs and an invoice showing a wholesale price of $4.90 per pillow, and said the campaign sought guidance and followed rules before the giveaway.
- Minnesota law makes it a felony to give voters money, food, clothing or any other item of value to influence voting, with a narrow exemption for refreshments valued up to $5 consumed on site.
- The legal action compounds separate challenges over Lindell’s Minnesota residency and comes while early voting is under way, raising the prospect that the dispute could affect his standing in a Trump‑endorsed, crowded Republican primary and deepen divisions within the state GOP.