Mike Lindell, a fierce Trump ally and the founder of MyPillow, says he’s willing to foot the bill for a full recount in Minnesota’s GOP primary for governor — a race he lost this month by 11 percentage points.
In a brief phone call with NBC News on Wednesday, Lindell said that he had hired his own team to begin investigating the Aug. 11 Republican primary, which NBC News projects state House Speaker Lisa Demuth won, and that he had reached out to the Minnesota secretary of state’s office to ask for a cost estimate for a recount.
The secretary of state’s general counsel, Lauren Bethke, informed Lindell in a letter Tuesday that a full hand recount and audit would cost about $825,000.
Lindell, who has repeated debunked claims that voting machines rigged the 2020 election, told NBC News that he expects the overall amount to reach “upwards of $1 million” because of additional actions, including hiring his own team to investigate the race, a cost he said he is prepared to pay.
The secretary of state’s office said Wednesday that it had not yet received an official request for a recount. Bethke’s letter said Lindell must provide a recount request alongside “a bond, cash or surety” for the estimated cost by Monday to move forward.
Lindell said he plans to “personally go in there myself” to deliver the official request Monday. He added that he is waiting for the office to confirm where each county would hold its recount, as he plans to send designated observers to the sites to oversee the process.
Demuth, who is set to face Democratic nominee Amy Klobuchar in November, beat Lindell by about 45,000 votes.
In a news release Tuesday, Lindell alleged that his team found several “irregularities” in the election data that he believes stem from the use of electronic voting machines.
“Even if this recount and audit does not overturn my election for governor of Minnesota, I believe this is the gateway to getting rid of these electronic voting machines,” he said.
Lindell, who had President Donald Trump’s endorsement in the primary, has faced multiple lawsuits from voting machine companies over his false claims about the 2020 election.
A federal judge has ordered him to pay Smartmatic USA Corp., a voting machine company, $56,369 after it sued him for defamation. After Lindell refused to pay the sanctions, the judge added a daily fine of $500 — which now amounts to even more than the sanctions.
Lindell, who is encouraging supporters to donate to his nearly $1 million recount effort, has said in court filings that he doesn’t have the financial means to pay Smartmatic. He told NBC News on Wednesday that he still does not intend to pay the court fees or sanctions.
Earlier in the day, attorneys for Lindell sent a letter to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Bryan, who ruled in September that Lindell had defamed Smartmatic, asking to file a motion to reconsider the ruling.
The letter cites “newly available evidence,” referring to a collection of heavily redacted documents about election security that Trump released July 16. The documents did not reveal evidence that the 2020 election was subject to widespread voter fraud.
Lindell maintained Wednesday that the documents show his claims about election fraud are correct and said he will continue to challenge Smartmatic, even if the judge decides not to reconsider the case.
“I can tell you that, regardless, it doesn’t matter what goes on with whether he accepts that or not,” Lindell said.
