MyPillow CEO sued over contract breach with fellow election deniers

(CN) — Two right-wing activists say MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell stiffed them on a $3 million loan he took for his company in 2023.

Lindell — whose fame rose exponentially after he endorsed election fraud conspiracy theories in 2020 and threw his support behind Kari Lake in 2022 — borrowed from Miki Klann of Scottsdale, Arizona, and Villa Pine Drive LLC, solely owned and operated by Denver conservative podcaster Joe Oltmann. In a lawsuit filed Monday in Douglas County, Colorado, the plaintiffs say Lindell breached multiple contracts by failing to pay the original loan, failing to make payments pursuant to a subsequent settlement agreement, and allowing other lenders to place liens on the same properties he listed as collateral for the loan in question.

“Defendants have failed to fulfill their contractual obligations in good faith,” the plaintiffs say in the complaint. “Not only have defendants permitted numerous additional security interests to be levied against the collateral, but defendants have also risked the well-being of the collateral by failing to obtain prior written consent of the plaintiffs prior to allowing said security interests to be filed against the collateral.”

It’s unclear what Lindell and MyPillow planned to use the loan for.

Oltmann, host of the “Conservative Daily Podcast,” was one of the first public figures to espouse baseless claims of election interference against the Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems in 2020, resulting in a defamation lawsuit against him and Lindell, who boosted Oltmann’s claims.

A federal judge ordered Oltmann to pay more than $90,000 over his refusal to cooperate in the lawsuit and ordered Lindell to pay $2.3 million in damages to Dominion after he was found guilty of defamation in June.

Direct ties to Oltmann being unclear, Klann is a far-right influencer and activist who, like Oltmann, has platformed the popular QAnon conspiracy theory. Klann cofounded The People’s Operation Restoration, a right-wing group self-described as a “movement to restore our Republic.” The organization’s website asks users to “join the army of the light” while it displays AI-generated images of President Donald Trump in American Revolution-inspired attire.

Lindell borrowed $3 million from the plaintiffs in August 2023, agreeing to pay $3.5 million back within 90 days, the plaintiffs say. As collateral, Lindell listed five parcels of land, three in Texas and two in Minnesota, owned by Lindell’s companies Prior Lake 40 Acres, LLC and Lindell Properties, LLC.

Unbeknownst to the plaintiffs, Lindell allowed additional lenders to place liens of their own on those same properties, interfering with what would otherwise be owed to the plaintiffs if the loan wasn’t repaid. Klann and Oltmann say they didn’t know about the other liens until August 2024, when the parties entered a settlement agreement requiring Lindell and MyPillow to pay back a total of $5,036,700.

“Defendants’ violations of the security agreement cannot be cured given the financing statements which were filed against the collateral,” the plaintiffs say in the complaint.

Lindell continued to allow additional liens to be placed on those properties, the plaintiffs say, and as of Monday, no payments have been made.

Klann and Oltmann bring three counts of breach of contract against Lindell and MyPillow: one for the initial contract, the loan note itself and the settlement agreement. They ask that a Colorado judge force Lindell and MyPillow to pay the $5 million and any additional interest, along with monetary damages associated with extinguishing any outstanding liens and debts on the collateral properties.

Attorneys Michel Williams and Michael Annerino of Senn Fortis LLC filed the suit on the activists’ behalf.

Neither side has replied to a request for comment.

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