Mike Lindell GRILLED Over Suspicious Campaign Spending

A governor’s race turns into a book club the moment donor dollars start buying the candidate’s own memoir by the pallet.

Quick Take

Mike Lindell’s Minnesota governor campaign reported spending about $187,000 on copies of his autobiography, a majority share of his early budget.
The campaign bought roughly 25,000–30,000 books at about $7 each and pitched them as a substitute for standard flyers and mailers.
Minnesota’s campaign rules can allow book purchases if they’re disclosed, but the optics look like self-dealing when the seller ties back to the candidate.
Smartmatic’s attorneys highlighted the spending in court as they disputed Lindell’s claims that he’s too broke to pay legal obligations.

How $187,000 in “Campaign Literature” Became a Business Transaction

Mike Lindell announced his run for Minnesota governor in mid-December 2025 and quickly raised roughly $352,000 to $356,000. Then the receipts landed: more than half his spending went to one item—his self-published memoir, “What Are the Odds? From Crack Addict to CEO.” The campaign bought the books from MyPillow, the company Lindell built and still closely ties to, and treated them like mass-distributed campaign material.

The dollar figure matters because it changes the story from quirky to consequential. A few thousand dollars on books might read like a branding choice. Nearly $187,000 reads like a strategy built around a single product—one that happens to route donor money into a company associated with the candidate. That’s the kind of loop that makes voters squint, donors ask questions, and opponents quietly hope you keep explaining it.

The Tactical Pitch: “Books Replace Flyers”

Lindell’s defense was straightforward: books beat “little flyers.” From a pure campaign mechanics standpoint, he’s not wrong that candidates constantly hunt for something voters will keep instead of tossing. A paperback can sit on a kitchen counter, travel to a cabin, get handed to a neighbor. The problem is the seller-candidate overlap. When the campaign “buys” the tool from the candidate’s business orbit, persuasion starts looking like a purchase order.

The scale also separated Lindell from the normal rhythms of a primary. Rivals typically spend early money on lists, postage, basic staffing, and digital tests that can be measured and adjusted. A book purchase is a one-way bet: once you print and pay, the money’s gone whether the books move votes or become garage clutter. Lindell reportedly handed out signed copies at a GOP forum in Prior Lake, but even enthusiastic meet-and-greets don’t easily absorb 25,000 to 30,000 copies.

What Minnesota Rules Allow, and What Voters Usually Reject

Minnesota has dealt with the candidate-book question before. The Campaign Finance Board has indicated campaigns can purchase and distribute a candidate’s book if the transactions are reported properly, and earlier disputes in past decades didn’t automatically trigger enforcement if disclosure happened. That legal lane exists for a reason: candidates are allowed to communicate, and books can be communication. Legality, though, is a floor, not a political shield.

Common sense for donors is simpler than the statute book: “Did my contribution help the campaign, or did it help the candidate’s business?” Even voters who like Lindell’s politics can resent the feeling of being treated as a revenue stream. Conservatives typically demand clean lines—earn your money honestly, disclose it, and don’t blur public trust with private benefit. A disclosed transaction can still be a bad idea if it smells like insiders getting paid first.

The Courtroom Collision: When Campaign Spending Undercuts “I’m Broke” Claims

The timing turned this from a campaign curiosity into legal ammunition. Lindell has faced major legal pressure tied to his election claims, including costly litigation with voting-technology firms. When he described financial distress and inability to pay, Smartmatic’s attorneys pointed to the campaign’s book spending as evidence that money moved when it mattered to him. A judge deciding whether someone is dodging obligations doesn’t need to prove a crime; they look for credibility.

This is where the “it’s just marketing” line starts to crack. Courts and creditors don’t care about campaign creativity; they care about cash flow and choices. If a candidate says he can’t pay what he owes, then a report shows large sums paid to a connected entity for a product he controls, critics will argue he prioritized self-benefit. That argument may or may not win in court, but it’s powerful in public.

The Political Cost: A Primary Is a Trust Contest Before It’s a Policy Contest

Early February caucus straw-poll results had Lindell running behind other Republicans, with his support notably below the leader’s. Polls move, especially before an August primary, but spending stories tend to stick because they’re easy to retell in one sentence. A challenger can take an opponent’s policy and debate it; they can take an opponent’s spending and brand it. “He spent your donations on his own book” is branding gold for rivals.

Lindell still has a path if he converts attention into organization, but this episode highlights a reality older voters understand instinctively: people don’t mind a candidate making money in business; they mind a candidate using politics to make money. If Lindell wants to neutralize that suspicion, he’ll need radical transparency and a spending mix that looks like a real statewide campaign. Until then, every box of memoirs becomes a reminder that trust is the first currency a candidate spends.