A Minnesota administrative law judge has pushed the Mike Lindell pillow campaign complaint into a formal hearing, setting a probable cause session for Monday morning at 10 a.m. after finding evidence of a prima facie violation of Minnesota campaign finance law.
The complaint centers on what happened at a parade in Delano on July Fourth: a citizen said Lindell was giving away pillows with campaign literature, and the filing alleges the pillows were marked “Mike Lindell for Governor” and handed out from a float decorated with signs carrying the same message.
That matters because Minnesota state law bars giving away things of monetary value to get people to vote a certain way, and the complaint says the pillows carried a value of 34.95. Lindell built his public profile through MyPillow company, and his campaign appearances have long folded the brand into his political message.
He has said the giveaway was allowed. In June, Lindell said he sought an opinion from the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board and was told it was okay. He also said the items were little pillows, not full-size ones, and that the literature was inside them. “This is our little ‘go anywhere’ MyPillow,” he said. “It’s like a mini-pillow. We’ve used it in promotions for a long, long time. I love doing parades.” He added, “These aren’t full-size pillows” and, “They’re little pillows just like if you gave away a hat or a shirt or anything. Our literature is inside it. We followed all the guidelines to the ‘T.’”
That explanation is now headed into a hearing that will bring Lindell and the citizen complainant into the same proceeding before Administrative Law Judge Nicholas B. Lienesch. The unresolved issue is not whether the giveaways happened; it is whether a campaign-branded pillow counts as something of monetary value under Minnesota campaign finance law when it is handed out to influence voters. David Schultz said, “There’s lots of red flags there” and, “Lots of questions that we have, but certainly on the surface it raises all kinds of questions about the legality of what he did.”
The hearing is the next step in a case that began as a complaint after a parade appearance and has now moved into a legal process with a set date. If the allegations hold up, the parade giveaway may become a test of how far campaign merch can go before it crosses the line.
