Judge Holds Mike Lindell in Contempt Over Unpaid Smartmatic Sanction

Overview

• A federal judge appointed by President Trump found Mike Lindell in contempt and set a $500-per-day penalty until he pays $56,369 to Smartmatic.
• The court rejected Lindell’s claim that he cannot pay, citing unrebutted records showing he continued to fund legal work in other cases.
• The judge ordered Lindell to explain whether his crowdsourced legal funds could cover the sanction, and he delayed for months before saying his finances had not improved.
• Smartmatic told the court he kept raising money, and the judge noted campaign filings showing about $187,000 spent on Lindell’s own books sold by MyPillow.
• The six-page order was redacted and has now been unsealed on the public docket, making the court’s reasoning public in a case tied to Lindell’s false claims about Smartmatic’s voting systems.