A Trump-appointed federal judge denied MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell’s request to stop federal agents from searching through his cell phone Thursday, one week after the FBI seized the election denier’s phone as part of an investigation into a breach of election equipment in Colorado.
District Court Judge Eric Tostrud denied Lindell’s request for a temporary restraining order that would have prevented the FBI from “taking any action” with the cell phone until the court holds a hearing to determine whether the FBI needs to return it.
The decision comes one day after Lindell sued the FBI to get his phone back, alleging the agency violated his constitutional rights under the 1st, 4th and 5th Amendments by seizing his cell phone and arguing he feared for “his and his friend’s rights” when federal agents surrounded his truck at the Hardee’s drive-through in Minnesota.
The judge’s decision allows FBI investigators to continue searching for evidence of violations of three federal statutes related to identity theft, deliberate damage to a protected computer and conspiring to commit identity theft or damage a protected computer, specifically in relation to attempts to damage or take data from voting machines, according to a search warrant.
Lindell has not been charged with a crime, and the search warrant used to take his phone doesn’t specify whether he’s a target of the federal investigation.
Lindell, who has repeatedly spread false claims that the 2020 election was...
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