The legal activity swirling around MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell now includes an investigation into his charities by the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office.
Documents filed in Ramsey County District Court last week show Attorney General Keith Ellison has been investigating three nonprofit corporations that list Lindell as president since last summer over potential violations of state charity law.
In August, the Attorney General’s Office served three civil investigative demands on the charities asking for “basic information about their charitable activities, governance, and finances.” The charities have not shared that information, according to a memo filed by Ellison that asks the court to intervene and make the charities comply with the investigation.
Ellison alleges that public documents and evidence has uncovered conflicting financial transactions and a “lack of charitable activities that suggest at least some of the charities may be shams.”
Lindell told the Minnesota Star Tribune that the investigation is a “hit job” by the Attorney General’s Office and his nonprofit operations were ran in an appropriate manner.
“The problem with them is they can’t believe that anybody would setup a foundation to help people and put in all the money yourself instead of reaching to outside people,” he said.
The charities are the Lindell Foundation Inc., the Lindell Recovery Network, and Lindell Foundation Outreach Inc.
According to Guidestar, a database of nonprofits, Lindell Foundation Outreach’s purpose is to use the love of Jesus to “serve the poor — and others who are struggling" while the Lindell Recovery Network aims to “serve with the love of Jesus Christ those who are struggling with drug addiction.”