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)
Smartmatic alerted a federal judge Wednesday that in the two weeks since he held Mike Lindell in civil contempt, the MyPillow CEO has not paid "any" sanctions he owes.
The voting machine company's three-page filing in U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols' court noted that on March 24 Lindell was ordered to make the "full payment" of $56,369 in sanctions on or before Tuesday, April 7 — or else a $500 fine would follow "for each day he remains in noncompliance."
That deadline has come and gone without "any" payment at all for raising "frivolous" claims against the company, as has been the case since January 2025, Smartmatic told the Donald Trump-appointed jurist.
"Counsel for Smartmatic met and conferred with counsel for Lindell prior to the Court's April 7, 2026 deadline. Lindell has yet to make any payment to Smartmatic pursuant to the sanction order. Similarly, he has not executed the negotiated escrow agreement," the notice said. "Thus, Lindell is now 'subject to a civil contempt penalty of $500 per day[.]'"
The details of Lindell's mounting financial woes have come out in a slow trickle in the Smartmatic matter.
As Law&Crime reported in detail after Nichols warned Lindell that "further contempt sanctions" would be coming if he didn't have a good explanation for nonpayment, Lindell repeatedly claimed an "inability to pay" in sealed documents on his financials.
Smartmatic said the hundreds of thousands of dollars contributed to Lindell's legal defense funds and Minnesota gubernatorial campaign funds — and his $14.8 million in assets — all showed that he chose not to pay out of "disregard for this Court's orders, rather than genuine financial hardship."
When the pillow mogul and 2020 election conspiracy theorist with substantial civil liabilities countered by claiming to have a "negative $18.7 million" net worth, Smartmatic's attorneys answered that Lindell spent $187,037.87 in campaign funds to buy copies of his own book "What Are the Odds? From Crack Addict to CEO" from his own company MyPillow Inc. — just to give the books away.
In the end, Nichols determined that Lindell had the money and spent it elsewhere, rather than paying the sanctions as ordered by the court — and he has the assets.
"That Lindell prioritized spending in other legal proceedings over this case—despite those proceedings taking place after the Court ordered him to pay Smartmatic for filing frivolous counterclaims against it—does not excuse his failure to pay here," the judge stated.
On a separate front in federal court, FedEx recently made a move to collect millions from Lindell for failing to pay shipping debts, claiming he made false promises so he would be allowed to continue "shipping on credit."
Last summer, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee entered a default judgment in FedEx's favor — finding MyPillow liable for $8,809,056.31 and Lindell for $2,677,933.31 in compensatory damages, plus costs and postjudgment interest at "4.08% yearly" — after the defendants did not respond.