On Wednesday (April 19), a US businessman named Mike Lindell was asked to pay $5 million (~ ₹41 crores) to a computer forensics expert after the latter debunked his claims of ‘Chinese interference’ in the 2020 Presidential elections.
The ‘MyPillow’ founder Mike Lindell, had vowed to pay $5 million ahead of a ‘cyber symposium’ organised in South Dakota in August 2021. Lindell had claimed that he has data to show Chinese interference in the 2020 US Presidential election.
He promised to pay the hefty sum of money to any individual who could prove that the data was not from the 2020 election. The American businessman had infamously named the challenge ‘Prove Mike Wrong.’
🚨BREAKING: An arbitration panel has ordered Mike Lindell to pay $5 million to a cybersecurity expert who debunked his election data and won his “Prove Mike Wrong” election-fraud challenge.
— Jon Cooper (@joncoopertweets) April 20, 2023
Mike is NOT happy about that. pic.twitter.com/YOJhYIEYXZ
A 63-year-old computer forensic expert and a Trump supporter, by the name of Robert Zeidman, was able to prove Lindell’s claims wrong. After examining the data provided by the American businessman, Zeidman concluded that it did not prove election interference or vote fraud.
He also found that the given data had no connection to the 2020 US Presidential election results. When Zeidman sought the prize money from Lindell Management, it reportedly refused to pay him.
The computer forensic expert then approached a private arbitration panel, which ruled in his favour in a 23-page decision. The arbitrators conducted an ‘evidentiary hearing’ in Minneapolis in January this year and delivered their verdict on Wednesday (April 19).
BREAKING: MAGA Republican My Pillow Guy Mike Lindell just got caught in an apparent scam.
— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) April 20, 2023
You may remember this challenge he offered back in June of 2021. He challenged anyone who wanted to come to his cyber symposium and prove that the election data that he claimed proved Trump… pic.twitter.com/KiY5fhzdrR
“He proved the data Lindell LLC provided, and represented reflected information from the November 2020 election, unequivocally did not reflect November 2020 election data. Failure to pay Mr Zeidman the $5 million prize was a breach of the contract, entitling him to recover,” the panel said.
While reacting to the development, Robert Zeidman Zeidman said “They clearly saw this as I did — that the data we were given at the symposium was not at all what Mr Lindell said it was. The truth is finally out there.”
His attorney, Brian Glasser, remarked, “I think the arbitrators thought it important that these claims be vetted, because they’ve done great harm to our country.”
— Mike Lindell (@realMikeLindell) April 21, 2023
Mike Lindell, who is now facing a $1.3 billion defamation suit from Dominion voting systems, told The Washington Post, “They made a terribly wrong decision! This will be going to court!”
He also posted a meme, which read, “I don’t always get sued for $5 million dollars. But when I do, I ride go-karts.” Reportedly, Lindell had spent millions to amplify ‘election fraud’ claims after the 2020 US Presidential elections.
Fox News settles defamation lawsuit for $787 million
On Tuesday (April 18), Fox News settled a defamation lawsuit against it for a whopping $787.5 million after being sued for claiming that a voting machine company named Dominion helped ‘steal’ the 2020 US Presidential elections.
As per reports, the development came just before the opening statements were made in what was going to be a ‘blockbuster media trial.’ Dominion had initially sought $1.6 billion in damages from the American news network.
Fox News and Dominion later reached a settlement for half the ask at $787.5 million. The American news network also stated that the settlement reflected its continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards.
