Donald Trump did it, and now Mike Lindell tried to carve out an exception in the law whereby the Trump inner circle is allowed to avoid the FBI and ask for special masters to review everything because the FBI is obviously made up of just horrible people out to get Trump and his inner circle. The “team” believes they are the only people in the country immune from search warrants signed by judges on the basis of very serious and cautious FBI affidavits. It sort of worked with a mega-MAGA Judge Cannon in Florida (though now reversed in part), but it most certainly didn’t work when Mike Lindell sued the FBI in Minnesota in front of a Trump-appointed judge. The judge tossed the motion like a bad burrito. Mike Lindell isn’t getting his phone back. He is just like every other American.
From Law and Crime:
A federal judge in Minnesota appointed by Donald Trump on Thursday rejected a motion for a temporary restraining order which was filed just yesterday by local counsel and self-described constitutional consultant Alan Dershowitz on behalf of MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell.
“Just yesterday.” The judge didn’t need a treatise to punt the motion.
U.S. District Judge Eric C. Tostrud noticeably cited a Wednesday ruling by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals that significantly tailored another Trump-appointed district judge’s special master order in the ongoing Mar-a-Lago clash between the former president and the DOJ.
Like the Trump case, the judge noted, plaintiff Lindell is seeking return of property as DOJ conducts an active criminal investigation (Lindell has not been accused of a crime and is considered a “subject”):
Many MAGAs believe the FBI is out of control, on a mission to destroy Trump, and recklessly roaming the country, grabbing whatever they need to build some giant “hoax” against Trump. Of course, few of them factor in that the FBI needs a warrant signed by a federal judge to obtain all this stuff. The warrants are based upon affidavits for probable cause. The judges know that these cases will be so controversial that they will want double or triple the evidence they would normally require, just to be sure. In fact, the FBI also likely knows that it better be triple sure over an average case.
After taking all the above into consideration, it is jaw-dropping that Alan Dershowitz helped a Minnesota attorney file the motion. Dershowitz specialized in teaching criminal law and criminal procedure. There are few people in the country that know the system better than he. Dershowitz may be a Trump apologist and willing to stake out ridiculous positions on television. But he is supposed to be one of the sane ones in actual court filings. It is odd. He knows that the motion was ridiculous.
Team Trump is not going to be able to demand special masters in every case, carving out some Trumpy exception. They got away with it in front of Judge Cannon but likely will not find such a friendly forum again.
@JasonMiciak believes a day without learning is a day not lived. He is a political writer, features writer, author, and attorney. He is a Canadian-born dual citizen who spent his teen and college years in the Pacific Northwest and has since lived in seven states. He now enjoys life as a single dad of a young girl, writing from the beaches of the Gulf Coast. He loves crafting his flower pots, cooking, and currently studies philosophy of science, religion, and non-math principles behind quantum mechanics and cosmology. Please feel free to contact for speaking engagements or any concerns.