A pillow salesman apparently has some ideas about declaring martial law
The galaxy of individuals who have orbited President Trump over the past five years is not lacking for unusual characters. Few, though, have had quite the same trajectory as businessman Michael Lindell.
Lindell is the CEO of the company My Pillow, which, as you might expect, makes pillows. His company advertises heavily on Fox News, often with spots featuring Lindell himself. A major Republican donor, he participated in an event centered on manufacturing early in Trump’s administration. Since then, he’s returned to the White House regularly and has touted his close relationship with the president. That includes an effort last August to get Trump to endorse a supposed coronavirus treatment in which Lindell had a financial stake. (Trump did not do so.)
Since Trump lost the 2020 presidential election, Lindell has been a fervent champion of the utterly baseless claim that the election was somehow stolen from Trump. Lindell has repeatedly appeared on far-right “news” programs to insist that he has evidence that Trump actually won the election, a claim for which no credible evidence has ever emerged. As recently as Thursday, he posted on his Facebook page a claim that Trump would be president for “4 more years.”
The photo at the top of the page shows Lindell standing in the Oval Office next to Trump, who’s seated at the Resolute Desk.
On Friday, he may again have had the chance to see that desk. At about 3 p.m., he was escorted into the West Wing where he reportedly met briefly with Trump. The subject of his visit? If notes Lindell was holding while he waited to enter were any indication, he wanted to discuss his thoughts on how Trump might finagle those “4 more years” Lindell had promised his Facebook followers.
The Washington Post’s Jabin Botsford captured an image of the notes Lindell was carrying with him as he went to meet with Trump. Only half of the page can be seen, but even that tells a lot.
Here’s our best attempt to capture what’s written on the page.
… BE TAKEN IMMEDIATELY TO SAVE THE
…THE CONSTITUTION
…Colon NOW as Acting National Security
…him with getting the evidence of ALL the
…in the election and all information regarding
…using people he knows who already have security
…done massive research on these issues
…at Fort Mead [sic]. He is an attorney with cyber-
…expertise and is up to speed on election issues.
…Insurrection Act now as a result of the assault on the
…martial law if necessary upon the first hint of any
[STRIKETHROUGH]
…Sidney Powell, Bill Olsen, Kurt Olsen,
…DOD. Move Kash Patel to CIA Acting.
…on Foreign Interference in the election. Trigger
…powers. Make clear this is China/Iran
…also used domestic actors. Instruct Frank
…evidence on…the more broad
…likely amount…
…line…evidenceAt the bottom, the text is obscured by Lindell’s coffee cup.
But you get the gist: The CEO of MyPillow has a strategy for shuffling around administration staffers to gather up the evidence of electoral fraud he thinks exists — and to use military resources in an effort to keep Trump in power, or, as he apparently puts it, to protect the Constitution.