Current:Home > ScamsSupreme Court won’t hear election denier Mike Lindell’s challenge over FBI seizure of cellphone-LoTradeCoin
Supreme Court won’t hear election denier Mike Lindell’s challenge over FBI seizure of cellphone
View Date:2024-12-23 19:33:45
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a petition by MyPillow founder and election denier Mike Lindell to consider his challenge to the legality of the FBI’s seizure of his cellphone at a restaurant drive-through.
The high court, without comment Monday, declined to reconsider three lower court rulings that went against Lindell, a prominent promoter of false claims that voting machines were manipulated to steal the 2020 presidential election from President Donald Trump.
FBI agents seized the cellphone from him at a Hardee’s fast-food restaurant in the southern Minnesota city of Mankato in 2022 as part of an investigation into an alleged scheme to breach voting system technology in Mesa County, Colorado. Lindell alleged the confiscation violated his constitutional rights against unlawful search and seizure and was an attempt by the government to chill his freedom of speech.
The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed.
“While he has at times attempted to assert otherwise, Lindell’s objective in this action is apparent — this litigation is a tactic to, at a minimum, interfere with and, at most, enjoin a criminal investigation and ultimately hamper any potential federal prosecution,” a three-judge appeals panel wrote last September.
In February, when Lindell turned to the Supreme Court, his attorneys said Lindell had still not gotten his phone back.
Monday’s decision was the latest in a run of legal and financial setbacks for Lindell, who is being sued for defamation by two voting machine companies. Lawyers who were originally defending him in those cases quit over unpaid bills.
A credit crunch last year disrupted cash flow at MyPillow after it lost Fox News as one of its major advertising platforms and was dropped by several national retailers. A judge in February affirmed a $5 million arbitration award to a software engineer who challenged data Lindell said proves China interfered in the 2020 election.
veryGood! (9377)
Related
- Wheel of Fortune Contestant Goes Viral Over His Hilariously Wrong Answer
- 'No real warning': As Maui fire death toll rises to 55, questions surface over alerts. Live updates
- UPS says drivers to make $170,000 in pay and benefits following union deal
- Over $1 million raised for family of California 8-year-old struck, paralyzed by stray bullet
- Maryland man wanted after 'extensive collection' of 3D-printed ghost guns found at his home
- Amazon founder Jeff Bezos buys home in Miami’s ‘billionaire bunker.’ Tom Brady will be his neighbor
- To the moon and back: Astronauts get 1st look at Artemis II craft ahead of lunar mission
- D.C. United terminates Taxi Fountas' contract for using discriminatory language
- West Virginia expands education savings account program for military families
- Da Brat and Wife Jesseca Judy Harris-Dupart Share First Photos of Son True Legend
Ranking
- Chris Evans Shares Thoughts on Starting a Family With Wife Alba Baptista
- D.C. United terminates Taxi Fountas' contract for using discriminatory language
- Virgin Galactic launch live stream: Watch Galactic 02 mission with civilians on board
- 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes celebrate generations of rappers ahead of hip-hop's milestone anniversary
- Ben Foster Files for Divorce From Laura Prepon After 6 Years of Marriage
- Police detain 18 people for storming pitch at Club América-Nashville SC Leagues Cup match
- St. Louis activists praise Biden’s support for compensation over Manhattan Project contamination
- Texas sheriff says 3 hog hunters from Florida died in an underground tank after their dog fell in
Recommendation
-
Shawn Mendes quest for self-discovery is a quiet triumph: Best songs on 'Shawn' album
-
Teen Social Media Star Lil Tay Confirms She's Alive And Not Dead After Hoax
-
D.C. United terminates Taxi Fountas' contract for using discriminatory language
-
'Transportation disaster' strands Kentucky students for hours, cancels school 2 days
-
A pair of Trump officials have defended family separation and ramped-up deportations
-
Here's where inflation stands today — and why it's raising hope about the economy
-
Salma Paralluelo's extra-time goal puts Spain into World Cup semifinals for first time
-
Family of Henrietta Lacks files new lawsuit over cells harvested without her consent