MyPillow guy reaches the find-out stage after refusing to pay Smartmatic
Source: Law & Crime
Mar 25th, 2026, 10:29 am
A Trump-appointed judge in Washington, D.C., has granted Smartmatic's motion to hold MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell in civil contempt and force him to pay sanctions for airing "frivolous" 2020 election claims in federal court, the docket shows.
Although U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols' order on Tuesday was sealed, the docket entry did say he granted Smartmatic's motion for contempt, which Law&Crime has reported on in detail:
SEALED ORDER granting Motion [235] Motion for Contempt. Signed by Judge Carl J. Nichols on 3/24/2026. (This document is SEALED and only available to authorized persons.)
Lindell has been on the hook for $56,369 in sanctions since the start of 2025. By March 2025, Smartmatic had already had enough and moved to hold Lindell in civil contempt, telling the judge that the pillow mogul "still has not paid, nor [ ] meaningfully engaged in any discussions or negotiations regarding the terms of payment."
Read more: https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/mypillow-guy-reaches-the-find-out-stage-after-refusing-to-pay-smartmatic-as-trump-appointed-judge-chooses-predictable-path/
Full headline: MyPillow guy reaches the find-out stage after refusing to pay Smartmatic, as Trump-appointed judge chooses predictable path
twodogsbarking
(18,693 posts)moniss
(9,035 posts)answer some questions people may have about civil versus criminal contempt:
"Because compliance is the point, civil contempt confinement can theoretically last indefinitely. The Federal Judicial Center describes civil contempt incarceration as potentially of indefinite duration because it continues for as long as the person refuses to act."
"The defining feature of civil contempt is the purge condition. Every civil contempt order must include a specific action you can take to end your confinement. Legal scholars describe this by saying the key to the cell is in the contemnors own pocket, meaning youll be released the moment you do what the court requires. If youre jailed for withholding financial records, handing over those records opens the door. If youre behind on support payments, paying the arrears ends the confinement. The jail time isnt a set number of days; it lasts until you comply or until the court decides continued confinement has lost its coercive effect."
And for criminal contempt:
"Criminal contempt looks and feels more like a traditional criminal prosecution. Instead of trying to make you comply with a future obligation, the court punishes you for something you already did. A judge might impose criminal contempt for repeatedly disrupting proceedings, threatening a witness, or willfully defying an injunction after being warned. The sentence is a fixed number of days or months, and you serve it regardless of whether you later apologize or comply."
https://legalclarity.org/do-you-go-to-jail-for-contempt-of-court-civil-vs-criminal/
MLWR
(1,009 posts)Grokenstein
(6,348 posts)"...Hello?"