During a recent conversation with longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon, MyPillow founder/ CEO Mike Lindell belligerently ranted about something that’s been on the way but now arrived: the elimination by his bank (Heartland Financial’s Minnesota Bank & Trust) of his accounts with them. (He can take his money elsewhere.) Lindell said he “just got served the papers” that they are formally closing his presence at the bank; according to him, the shutdown is scheduled for February 18, which is this Friday. He angrily added as follows:
‘What cowards. They’re just cowards — unreal. This is what it’s come to where banks cancel because — and here’s their reason. “Based on a compliance review.” Remember, two weeks ago they said it was because they didn’t want to be in the public eye, because Mike Lindell’s in the public eye. I’ve had the Lindell Recovery Network, the Lindell Foundation, Lindell Outreach — I’ve had these with this bank for years. And what changed? We added Lindell TV and Frank Speech about nine months ago. Well, as we get right over target everybody, and that reach goes out there — which we have been — it’s like, how can we stop Mike Lindell from getting the word out… It all goes back to them trying to cancel our voice everybody.’
Officials have launched an "inquiry" into an upcoming Florida fundraiser featuring Melania Trump for a charity that isn't registered in the state, as is required by law. It isn't clear whether the charity even exists. https://t.co/uJ325AIcxL
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 14, 2022
The decision by a private institution to effectively sever active ties with Lindell does not reflect some kind of widespread conspiracy to silence conservatives. Lindell isn’t even silenced — clearly, he doesn’t have some kind of serious problem with getting his bonkers message out there, considering the broad circulation of his remarks in the MAGA-verse. He has long been a proponent of false claims about the integrity of the last presidential election, and he’s sticking by them, while continuing to face pressure — partly in the form of massive defamation litigation from those (i.e., the election technology company Dominion Voting Systems) who’ve been the subjects of the ludicrous conspiracy theories that he has helped spread. Lindell’s imminent forced departure from his bank was first revealed last month. Check out Lindell’s long-winded rant about his bank situation below:
Lindell’s other problems include a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Capitol riot and what led to it for his phone records. In a lawsuit fighting that subpoena, Lindell’s attorneys claimed that enforcing the subpoena would violate his freedoms “of religion, speech, press, political expression, and to associate with others to advance their shared beliefs,” and characterizing Lindell’s spreading of lies about the last presidential election as somehow related to religious beliefs is certainly… a choice. Lindell — who often sounds like he has basically no idea what he’s talking about — “has no involvement whatsoever” in the Capitol attack, according to his attorneys, although the election lies that he helped spread directly inspired the violence.
In Jan. 2020, Trump touted his dealmaking abilities for getting China to commit to purchase an extra $200 billion of U.S. products in the next two years.
The results are in: China didn't buy anything extra from the United States. https://t.co/OHRR2UqBG6
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 14, 2022
