Mike Lindell sues U.S., Att'y General and FBI head over cell phone seizure
Source: CBSMinnesota
- MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell has filed a lawsuit after FBI agents seized his cell phone while he was sitting at the drive-thru window of a Hardee's in Mankato.
The suit, filed Tuesday names FBI director Christopher Wray as defendant, alongside U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and the United States of America.
The suit alleges that the federal agents "had no authority to detain and question Mr. Lindell against his will," and that Lindell's First Amendment rights were violated because of "his efforts to inform the public about alleged fraud and alleged irregularities he believes occurred in order to bring an end to the dependence on computerized voting and tabulating machines in elections."
It also claims that authorities were tracking Lindell using location services in violation of Lindell's Fourth Amendment rights in the stop and seizure, as well as his Fifth Amendment rights to due process, as well as the Sixth Amendment......
Dominion and Smartmatic, two companies that produce electronic voting machines, are suing Lindell for defamation; his own countersuits against them have been dismissed, as have dozens of other claims of alleged election fraud across the country.
Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/mike-lindell-sues-u-s-ag-and-fbi-head-over-cell-phone-seizure/
SWBTATTReg
(21,859 posts)The court cited the 11th Circuits reversal in the Trump case. Trumps ridiculous motion helped Lindell lose his.
PSPS
(13,516 posts)Marthe48
(16,692 posts)Where are they getting all of the lawyers willing to take on these frivolous lawsuits?
LetMyPeopleVote
(144,005 posts)mpcamb
(2,855 posts)COL Mustard
(5,784 posts)What's The Onion. Did Dershowitz seriously demand a Special Master????
Novara
(5,754 posts)LetMyPeopleVote
(144,005 posts)This makes me smile
Link to tweet
https://lawandcrime.com/awkward/federal-judge-citing-11th-circuit-ruling-against-trump-immediately-rejects-alan-dershowitzs-request-for-tro-in-mike-lindell-case/
A federal judge in Minnesota appointed by Donald Trump on Thursday rejected a motion for a temporary restraining order which was filed just yesterday by local counsel and self-described constitutional consultant Alan Dershowitz on behalf of MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell.
U.S. District Judge Eric C. Tostrud noticeably cited a Wednesday ruling by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals that significantly tailored another Trump-appointed district judges special master order in the ongoing Mar-a-Lago clash between the former president and the DOJ.
Like the Trump case, the judge noted, plaintiff Lindell is seeking return of property as DOJ conducts an active criminal investigation (Lindell has not been accused of a crime and is considered a subject):
[W]hen the owner of seized property seeks injunctive relief for the return of property while the case remains in the investigative stage (i.e. before criminal charges are brought), the district court must also balance the governments interest in retaining the property against the owners right to get it back. Id. at 1240; see also Trump v. United States, No. 22-13005, 2022 WL 4366684, at **79 (11th Cir. Sept. 21, 2022) (applying like factors in adjudicating motion for partial stay of district court order).
The judge did not stop here, adding the following blockquote to illustrate his point:
It is a familiar rule that courts of equity do not ordinarily restrain criminal prosecutions. Douglas v. City of Jeannette, 319 U.S. 157, 163 (1943); see also Deaver v. Seymour, 822 F.2d 66, 71 (D.C. Cir. 1987) (Silberman, J.) (rejecting civil suit to enjoin government from indicting plaintiff and explaining that [p]rospective defendants cannot, by bringing ancillary equitable proceedings, circumvent federal criminal procedure.); United States v. McIntosh, 833 F.3d 1163, 1172 (9th Cir. 2016) (In almost all federal criminal prosecutions, injunctive relief will not be appropriate. Federal courts traditionally have refused, except in rare instances, to enjoin federal criminal prosecutions.).
Lindell filed suit against Attorney General Merrick Garland and the U.S. as recently as Tuesday, Sept. 20, in a bid to get his cell phone back following a search at a Hardees.
BigmanPigman
(51,432 posts)BaronChocula
(1,458 posts)The farce that is Lindell
The farce that is Lindell
Hi Ho the Dairy-O
The farce that is Lindell
(Censored version omitting triggering line "Hi Ho that cracked out ho" )