Mike Lindell, CEO Of MyPillow speaks at CPAC on the final day of the conservative conference, February 24, 2024, in National Harbor, USA (Photo by Zach D Roberts/NurPhoto via AP).
The FBI has reportedly been apprised of several election-related emails sent by a group affiliated with pro-Donald Trump bedding product businessman and election denialist Mike Lindell.
The emails in question were sent to election officials throughout the country and are said to contain misleading information, ABC News reported early Friday morning, citing unnamed “federal officials.”
Those emails contain a survey asking for personal information about the people whose jobs include overseeing the voting process — as well as details about cybersecurity systems in each office targeted, according to the sources cited by the outlet. The emails reportedly frame their requests as an effort to shore up election integrity.
The group, which is led by Lindell, self-identifies as the “Election Crime Bureau (ECB)” in one email obtained by ABC News. Sent in September, the email reportedly says the ECB was tasked with “investigating what steps have been taken” across the United States to “ensure the security of the upcoming 2024 election.”
“The Election Crime Bureau is the central hub that brings information coming from COA and FrankSocial to one place,” a white paper released by the ECB reads — referring to an election-monitoring volunteer group and social media network, respectively. “The information is parceled out to our experts for cyber crime investigation, or lawfare determination, or to be shared on media.”
Lindell’s group is founded on the notion that “the 2020 election was stolen” by an organized criminal network via “rampant” election fraud. The ECB aims to prevent what it views as a potential repeat. Their stated objective is “to restore election integrity and give Americans a solid foundation for once again trusting in our election results.”
On its website, the ECB asserts a copyright owned by the “Lindell Offense Fund.” The overarching organization, a 501(c)(4) group, lists addresses in both Chaska, Minnesota, and Hudson, Wisconsin — and makes clear to would-be donors that it “is not a charitable organization for purposes of making tax deductible gift.”
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One question in the ECB survey was whether recipients have a “membership agreement” with the Center for Internet Security (CIS), a 24-year-old nonprofit organization based in upstate New York.
The CIS, essentially an internet standards organization, describes its mission as “harnessing the power of the global IT community to safeguard public and private organizations against cyber threats.”
Specifically, the ECB emails requested information about a public-private initiative between the CIS and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security: the Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center. The CIS describes this initiative as follows:
Since starting in 2018, the EI-ISAC evolved from an idea to a formalized collective of dedicated election officials, their staff members, associations, technology vendors, federal partners, and cybersecurity experts who work tirelessly to help secure the U.S. elections infrastructure. From sharing threat landscape information to creating educational opportunities and implementing technical cybersecurity controls, the EI-ISAC’s members and staff do everything they can to ensure the security and integrity of our elections.
…
The EI-ISAC is a voluntary and collaborative effort based on a strong partnership between CIS, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the Election Infrastructure Subsector Government Coordinating Council.
The ECB emails also asked for employees’ home addresses, what kinds of network and device-specific security protections were being used — and whether CIS had “provided” them such protections.
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Hours after the September emails were sent, the CIS issued an alert about having “received multiple reports” of the “Misleading Email to Election Officials,” according to ABC News. Those emails, the CIS told members, could falsely “lead a recipient to believe” they had been issued by the joint cybersecurity initiative. Members were instructed not to click on links in the messages or respond to the surveys.
Undeterred, a second set of emails were reportedly sent out by the ECB in October. This time, the group asked anyone who “is a member of the EI-ISAC or has signed an agreement with the CIS” to click on their “ECB Advisory for more information on the risks inherent with their censorship of important election information and the activities of the [Election Integrity Partnership] as a whole.”
In response, the CIS reportedly notified the FBI about the emails, according to ABC News. It is not clear whether the FBI took any action based on the referral. The FBI reportedly declined to comment on the story.
Lindell, for his part, said he has not been contacted by the FBI about the ECB’s emails, is not in charge of the ECB’s daily operations, and defended the questions in the survey sent out to election offices.
“I want to get rid of the electronic voting machines, and you should care about it too,” the MyPillow founder reportedly told ABC News. “There’s nothing wrong with the survey.”
In response to detailed questions, Lindell referred the outlet to Lindell Management’s Chief Operating Officer Patrick Colbeck.
Colbeck said the surveys were sent to “as many [election officials] as possible” using email lists “obtained from publicly available data regarding government bodies.” Echoing Lindell, the COO said the FBI had not reached out about the surveys.
“If they do, much as with any organization committed to the integrity of our elections, we will be happy to share our concerns with the Center for Internet Security as well as other [organizations] which we believe compromise the integrity of our election system,” Colbeck told ABC News.
Law&Crime reached out to the FBI, Lindell and the ECB for comment on this story but no responses were immediately forthcoming at the time of publication.
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