MyPillow CEO and founder Mike Lindell speaks to reporters at his MyPillow factory in the Minneapolis suburb of Shakopee, Minn., on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, as he launches his campaign for the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in 2026. (AP Photo/Steve Karnowski)
Having already asked a judge to force MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell to pay more than $56,000 in sanctions for "frivolous" 2020 election claims, Smartmatic states that the Minnesota gubernatorial candidate spent campaign funds on "bulk" buys of his own book and ultimately paid "himself."
In a two-page filing on Monday, the voting machine company alerted U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols to the Lindell campaign's financial expenditures for 2025 as published online by the state.
Though the campaign raised $356,513.40, more than half of its spending last year went to MyPillow for purchases of books, including the work "What Are the Odds? From Crack Addict to CEO," which Lindell estimated he gave away 20,000-plus copies of, the Minnesota Reformer reported.
As the supplemental filing put it, of the $272,578.03 spent, $187,037.87 went to MyPillow Inc. for "Lindell Books" and "Mike Lindell Books."
Smartmatic argued the spending numbers show that Lindell could afford the $56,369 in sanctions he was ordered to pay in January 2025, but he made "bulk" buys of his own books instead to "pay his own company and by extension, himself."
"In other words, the majority of the funds raised by the Campaign in 2025 were used to make bulk purchases of books from MyPillow Inc., of which Mr. Lindell is the Founder, CEO, and Majority Shareholder," Smartmatic's attorneys said.
The filing comes as Smartmatic has already asked Nichols, a Donald Trump appointee, to "coerce" Lindell's compliance, hold him in contempt, and issue a "daily penalty" until he pays in full, not buying his claims of "genuine financial hardship."
"This is not an inability to pay. It is a calculated refusal to pay. Only the threat of contempt will move him to comply," Smartmatic said.
Instead, Smartmatic added, Lindell displayed his willingness to boost claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
In 2020, Smartmatic's technology was used only in Los Angeles County, a county then-candidate Joe Biden easily won. Nonetheless, then-President Trump's allies pushed the notion that the company was tied to deceased Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and could have played a role in stealing the election, leading to defamation lawsuits.
Smartmatic became involved in the present Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit as a third-party defendant because Lindell countersued, claiming RICO violations. Some "frivolous" claims in the Lindell countersuit led Nichols to order up $56,369 in sanctions.
Last March, Smartmatic moved to hold Lindell in civil contempt, complaining that he "still has not paid, nor […] meaningfully engaged in any discussions or negotiations regarding the terms of payment."
Nearly a year later, Smartmatic says it has all the evidence it needs to show Lindell violated a court order, warranting "further contempt sanctions."
"Mr. Lindell's instant response demonstrates precisely what Smartmatic foresaw: a claim of inability to pay born of disregard for this Court's orders, rather than genuine financial hardship. Mr. Lindell will not pay unless and until the Court compels him to do so through contempt," Smartmatic stated.