MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell has sued the House select committee investigating the origins of the Jan. 6 breach of the Capitol in an effort to stop telecommunications company Verizon from sharing his information with the panel.
The lawsuit (pdf) was filed in the U.S. District Court of Minnesota on Wednesday and names Verizon, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and other members of the panel.
Lindell filed the suit after the House select committee issued Verizon a subpoena for all of his records of communication on a cellphone he regularly uses for the period between Nov. 1, 2020, and Jan. 31, 2021.
“The Subpoena demands that Verizon produce certain records associated with a cell phone number regularly used by Mr. Lindell. The cell number was assigned for Mr. Lindell’s use by Verizon’s subscriber My Pillow, Inc,” the lawsuit states.
“Mr. Lindell brings this action seeking declaratory and injunctive relief to invalidate the Subpoena on several grounds and to prohibit its enforcement,” the lawsuit reads.
Lindell argues that the subpoena violates his First Amendment and Fourth Amendment rights.
“Enforcement of the Subpoena would violate the rights of Mr. Lindell and of his sources to freedom of religion, speech, press, political expression, and to associate with others to advance their shared beliefs,” the lawsuit states. “These rights are guaranteed by the First Amendment … Enforcement of the Subpoena would violate the right of Mr. Lindell to freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures, which is guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment.”
The lawsuit also claims individual members of the select committee “acted without authority because they were not validly organized as a House committee” under the rules of the United States House of Representatives.
Additionally, Lindell says that “even if the Select Committee could issue subpoenas, the Subpoena exceeds the authority of the Select Committee because it requires production of records that are far beyond the scope of the Select Committee’s investigation.”
“It is a veiled effort to conduct an unauthorized criminal investigation, and it is not in furtherance of a valid legislative purpose,” his lawyers wrote.
