-
Mike Lindell, CEO of MyPillow, says four vendors have abandoned his MyStore ecommerce platform.
-
Lindell told Insider that these companies “don’t want to do business with MyStore” for fear of an FBI investigation.
-
Lindell’s phone was seized by the FBI at a Hardee’s drive-thru in Minnesota last week.
Mike Lindell, CEO of MyPillow, told Insider on Tuesday that four entrepreneurs whose businesses would be listed on his MyStore ecommerce platform have pulled out of the plan.
Speaking to Insider, Lindell said after the FBI seized his phone at a Hardee’s drive-thru last week, at least four companies told him they “don’t want to do business” with his MyStore platform.
“You know, they don’t want any connection with the FBI. The FBI scares them,” Lindell said of the sellers.
“They don’t want to be canceled, you know?” he added.
Lindell didn’t name the entrepreneurs, but said they had “really good” products, adding that he had made deals with them that have since failed. The businessman told Insider he was also informed last week that a “private lender” had withdrawn “two to three million dollars” worth of aid for one of four companies seeking to sell products on the MyStore platform. .
“This money was already set aside for one of these sellers, one of these entrepreneurs, so that they would have enough products and be listed on MyStore,” Lindell said. “And then they (the lenders) canceled the loan because they found out it was linked to MyStore. It’s very sad.”
MyStore started in April 2021 as Lindell’s “patriotic” answer to Amazon. The store now lists a range of products, including the Lindell-backed MyCoffee, a range of ground coffees featuring the businessman’s face on the package.
The MyStore withdrawal isn’t the first time Lindell has had trouble with financial institutions and employees for pushing former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims about election fraud.
In February, one of Lindell’s banks cut ties with him, calling him a “reputation risk,” after being subpoenaed by the House selection committee on Jan. 6 over his phone records.
In June, Lindell accused Walmart, MyPillow’s largest distributor, of “cancelling” it and removing its pillows from their stores.
Lindell told Insider last week that the phone seized was related to an investigation into Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, a pro-Trump Colorado election official accused of facilitating an election data breach.
The businessman filed a lawsuit against the FBI and the Justice Department on Tuesday for confiscating his phone, accusing authorities of violating his constitutional rights.
Represented by a legal team that includes conservative attorney Alan Dershowitz, Lindell’s lawsuit alleges that the FBI has violated its “First, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendment” rights. He also demands that his cell phone be returned and that any information the FBI or DOJ obtained from his phone not be released.
Separately, Lindell told Insider on Tuesday that he’d been having trouble accessing his cash and wiring money to his businesses without his phone.
“I can’t transfer money,” Lindell said, telling Insider that the codes he needed were all on the phone that was seized. “They took the files that were in it, and it really crippled me with work.”
Read the original article on Business Insider
