Mike Lindell, chief government officer of My Pillow Inc., speaks to members of the media whereas arriving to federal courtroom in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, June 24, 2021.
Samuel Corum | Bloomberg | Getty Images
A member of MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell’s legal staff has ties to Republican super PACs and has pushed false conspiracies about Vice President Kamala Harris and Covid-19.
Lindell has introduced on William Olson as certainly one of his legal advisors, in accordance to a brand new submitting made in federal courtroom in Minnesota.
Olson’s agency has completed legal work for GOP super PACs that backed Ben Carson in the course of the 2016 presidential election, supported then-President Donald Trump within the 2020 election and boosted Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in his 2018 Senate race towards former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, in accordance to Federal Election Commission information.
Olson’s current legal work consists of submitting an amicus transient that falsely claims Harris just isn’t a pure born citizen of the United States and just isn’t eligible to be vp. Harris was born in California. The conspiracy about Harris — the primary Black U.S. vp — echoes the racist birther principle Trump and others unfold about President Barack Obama.
Olson has additionally used his Twitter account to push some claims about the coronavirus which have been disputed by the FDA or deemed deceptive by the social media platform.
Olson’s presence on Lindell’s legal staff was disclosed in a current courtroom submitting. That submitting asks a Minnesota federal courtroom decide to permit Olson to seem in that courtroom and submit filings on Lindell’s behalf in a case where he is challenging a subpoena for his phone records from House committee investigating the origins of the Jan. 6 riot on Capitol Hill. Because Olson just isn’t admitted to observe regulation in Minnesota, he wants a decide’s permission to seem in a case there.
Lindell got here underneath the committee’s scrutiny after he repeatedly made false claims that election fraud led to Biden’s 2020 victory over Trump.
Longtime protection legal professional Alan Dershowitz can be representing Lindell as he fights the subpoena. Dershowitz represented Trump in his first impeachment and has labored for former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who as a lawyer for Trump pushed to overturn the 2020 outcomes.
In response to CNBC’s texted questions about Olson advising him, Lindell responded with the next assertion: “Brian, why do not you be an actual journalist and report the election crimes of 2020? I haven’t got time to entertain you horrible journalist as we speak!”
Lindell has pushed a number of claims about the 2020 election that federal and state officers have stated are unfaithful. William Barr, who served as legal professional basic underneath Trump, has stated that there was no widespread voter fraud in the course of the 2020 election. Courts dominated towards the previous president’s efforts to overturn the presidential outcomes dozens of occasions. Trump continues to be spreading conspiracy theories about the election outcomes greater than a 12 months after he misplaced.
Olson didn’t reply to an e mail in search of remark.
Olson’s hyperlinks to GOP super PACs
Olson’s agency’s web site says it practices in marketing campaign fundraising. The agency, William J. Olson P.C., says it focuses on “negotiation of fund elevating agreements; evaluate of fund elevating solicitations; compliance with federal, state and native charitable solicitation legal guidelines; participation within the federal authorities’s Combined Federal Campaign.”
FEC information present that for the reason that 2016 presidential election, Olson’s agency has been paid simply over $160,000 by at the least two totally different PACs for what’s described on all of the varieties as “legal charges.” The shoppers gave no additional description of what his agency did for these committees, which legally can spend and increase a limiteless sum of money.
One of the PACs that paid Olson’s agency modified its identify after the 2016 election, to the Stars and Stripes Forever PAC from the 2016 Committee. The group backed Carson in the course of the Republican major and then Trump when he confronted Hillary Clinton within the basic election.
The 2016 Committee spent $5 million supporting Carson, in accordance to the Center for Responsive Politics. It shelled out a mixed $1 million within the basic election backing Trump over Clinton.
John Philip Sousa IV, who runs the PAC and is the great-grandson of the bandleader who composed “The Stars and Stripes Forever,” says Olson nonetheless represents the PAC, which plans to keep energetic in the course of the 2022 midterm elections.
“He was/is our legal professional and saved us out of bother with the Feds,” Sousa stated concerning Olson in an e mail on Wednesday. He didn’t reply to observe up emails asking for particular examples of what Olson did for the PAC. He famous that his definition of “Feds” on this case was the FEC.
Sousa’s PAC spent over $115,000 supporting Trump in the course of the 2020 election and one other $48,000 opposing Biden, CRP knowledge says.
A prime donor the group in the course of the 2016 election was Julianna Hawn Holt, who was chairman and co-CEO of Spurs Sports & Entertainment, the corporate that owns the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs.
Mother Jones previously reported that Sousa ran a PAC supporting former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio when he efficiently ran for reelection in Arizona in 2012. Trump pardoned Arpaio in 2017 after he was convicted of legal contempt for defying a decide’s order to cease detaining immigrants as a result of they lacked legal standing.
Olson’s agency was additionally paid for legal work by the Hispanic Victory PAC, filings say. CRP knowledge reveals the group spent over $40,000 backing Cruz in 2018 and simply over $30,000 towards O’Rourke.
The former chair of the Hispanic Victory PAC didn’t return an e mail in search of remark.
Covid and Kamala Harris
Olson just lately signed an amicus transient towards the dismissal of a lawsuit that claimed Harris just isn’t a pure born citizen and legally can’t be vp. Olson was representing an outside group.
This principle about Harris was debunked in the course of the 2020 marketing campaign by a number of truth checkers, together with by FactCheck.org. The web site on the time stated, “Kamala Harris, former Vice President Joe Biden’s working mate, is eligible to function U.S. president, opposite to the false claims of viral posts on Facebook. Her mom is from India and her father from Jamaica — however Harris was born in Oakland, California.”
Still, Olson submitted an amicus transient dated early November 2020 after Election Day that falsely concludes Harris just isn’t a pure born citizen.
“Being neither a ‘pure born Citizen,’ nor a Citizen of the United States, on the time of the Adoption of this Constitution she just isn’t eligible to be both Vice President and (or President) of the United States,” the submitting reads.
Since then, Olson has taken to Twitter to push false Covid data. A tweet revealed on Olson’s account in December, the month when Covid circumstances surged across the nation, was labeled “deceptive” by the social media firm.
The tweet cited an article on Zero Hedge and says, “Ivermectin prophylaxis used for COVID-19 reduces COVID-19 an infection and mortality charges.” The Food and Drug Administration has stated it has not licensed or authorised ivermectin, an antiparasitic drugs, to be used in stopping or treating Covid-19 in people or animals.
In one other tweet in December, Olson appeared to encourage individuals not to get vaccinated towards Covid: “Everyone ought to take this recommendation to coronary heart — do not take the shot — the tide is popping — as Dr. Malone says, ‘simply dangle on.'”
Dr. Malone is identical identify as a physician that The Atlantic says is a vaccine scientist spreading misinformation.
Trump himself has inspired individuals to get the vaccine.