Mike Lindell reveals bizarre plan for 'incognito' appearance at Chicago DNC

MCHENRY, ILLINOIS: MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump, revealed a rather unusual plan during an interview with a right-wing news outlet.

On Sunday, August 18, Lindell disclosed his intention to shave his iconic mustache to go "incognito" at the upcoming Democratic National Convention (DNC). This was captured in footage shared by Ben Bergquam, a conservative media figure associated with Real America’s Voice, the Daily Beast reported. 

Mike Lindell reveals bizarre plan

During their conversation, Mike Lindell, who was reportedly en route to Chicago, echoed Ben Bergquam's sentiment that the DNC was "evil." With a touch of humor, Lindell announced, "I’m going incognito, I’m going to be shaving my mustache, everybody. You won’t recognize me."

Lindell’s announcement was made while he was in McHenry, Illinois, attending a pro-Trump rally, just a short distance from the DNC, which was set to begin on Monday.

Despite being denied credentials to attend the convention, Lindell expressed his determination to attend regardless, intending to attempt to "flip" Democrats.

Lindell’s bold declaration caught the attention of late-night host Stephen Colbert, who couldn’t resist poking fun at the MyPillow CEO.

On his show, Colbert donned a fake mustache and pillow to impersonate Lindell, humorously remarking, "Cause if there’s one thing I know about Democrats, is you gotta flip ’em from the hot side to the cool side. Oh wait ... I was thinking about pillows."

In addition to his plan to infiltrate the DNC, Lindell was scheduled to appear alongside Rudy Giuliani during the convention as part of a promotional event for FrankSpeech, a conservative broadcast network.

Lindell's attempt to garner media attention with his mustache-shaving stunt continued. In a video shared by Bergquam, Lindell is seen taking a call from someone he claims is from CNN, where he pitches the idea of having CNN broadcast the mustache-shaving event live.

“I’m telling everybody I’m going incognito into the DNC so we gotta talk later today, I’m going to shave off my mustache, will that be something you could go film that live on CNN? Will you film that live?” Lindell asked. “No? OK, well this is serious, we’re going to shave it off nationally, you can be live on CNN, it will be epic, epic I tell you.”

Despite his enthusiasm, the response was less than favorable, as Lindell ended the call with, "OK... we’ll see you later."

Legal troubles mount as Mike Lindell faces court appearance over failed election fraud claim

Mike Lindell’s plans for the DNC come on the heels of multiple legal challenges. The MyPillow founder has been embroiled in a lengthy civil lawsuit after failing to meet discovery obligations. Lindell may now be required to appear in court to explain his actions personally.

The lawsuit stems from a challenge Lindell issued in 2021, in which he claimed to have evidence of interference in the 2020 election. Lindell’s company, Lindell Management LLC, now faces a potential financial liability exceeding $5 million due to his failure to substantiate these claims.

On Friday, a federal judge issued a pointed order after Lindell’s company seemingly ignored a motion to compel the production of documents relevant to the case.

Magistrate Judge Dulce J Foster criticized Lindell Management LLC for not responding to the motion within the designated timeframe, writing, "Respondent has not responded to Petitioner’s Motion to Compel within the deadline to respond and has neither sought an extension nor otherwise communicated with the Court regarding the Motion."

As a result, the judge granted the motion to compel, emphasizing the urgency and seriousness of the situation by using bold type in the order.

The order mandates that Lindell’s company must respond to the requests for document production by August 23, 2024. Failure to comply could result in a court order requiring the company’s counsel and a managing officer to appear at a hearing to address their ongoing non-compliance with discovery obligations.

Additionally, the petitioner is instructed to update the court on the status of Lindell Management’s responses by August 26, 2024.

The 'Prove Mike Wrong' challenge and legal consequences

Mike Lindell’s legal troubles trace back to 2021 when he issued the “Prove Mike Wrong” challenge during a South Dakota election fraud symposium. The challenge involved data that Lindell claimed would prove that the People’s Republic of China had interfered in the 2020 US election.

Despite his skepticism, engineer Robert Zeidman accepted the challenge and successfully demonstrated that Lindell's data was incorrect, earning the $5 million reward as outlined by the challenge's rules.

Lindell’s company, Lindell Management LLC, hosted the symposium where the challenge was issued. The challenge's rules specified that any disputes over the outcome would be settled through mandatory arbitration.

When Zeidman emerged victorious, Lindell’s chosen arbitration panel ruled in his favor, but Lindell tried to overturn the decision in state court.

Zeidman, in turn, sought to enforce the award in federal court, leading to a consolidation of the cases.

In February, a Minnesota federal court upheld the arbitration decision, affirming Zeidman’s $5 million victory. US District Judge John R Tunheim ruled that Zeidman had successfully proven that the data provided by Lindell was not related to the November 2020 election, thereby satisfying the challenge’s requirements.

The court also added post-judgment interest to the award, which began accruing in April 2023.

Since then, Lindell and his company have faced a series of legal defeats, including the withdrawal of their attorneys and repeated court rulings in Zeidman’s favor regarding discovery issues, Law&Crime reported.