MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell's "Cyber Symposium" was billed as an arena in which Lindell would unveil definitive proof that the 2020 general election was stolen.
Instead, it crashed and burned when Lindell failed to produce any evidence of fraud.
CNN correspondent Donie O'Sullivan covered the anti-climactic event and questioned Lindell directly. Lindell did not take it too well.
You can watch their interaction in the video below.
We spent the week with Mike Lindell in South Dakota where he... did not prove the election was stolen by China. \n\nProduced by @DoctorGuffpic.twitter.com/RYf1o3YmAJ— Donie O'Sullivan (@Donie O'Sullivan) 1628818027
O'Sullivan first asked Lindell why he doesn't just hand over evidence to "as many cyberexperts as possible" if it is, in fact, legitimate.
Lindell responded by launching into an attack against the media:
"You know what, I'll give you the answer: Because I've been told that they can go out there and corrupt it and make fake stuff and put fake news out.
"So I don't need your people to go out and doctor the evidence and put out, 'Mike Lindell's a conspiracy theorist!'"
When O'Sullivan pointed out Lindell has badgered media outlets and cyberexperts for months to come and see the data he claims to have in his possession, Lindell doubled down:
"We're showing it right on screen right now, so you can't sit here and do a hit piece when it's on screen right now."
Lindell later suggested that media outlets and cyberexperts would only hamper his ability to showcase his evidence before the Supreme Court:
"Do you understand, all I need is for all those experts to say, 'Yep, it's from the 2020 election.'" ...
"I have that proof with my people that we're bringing the Supreme Court. I don't need the media driving the narrative before my case to the Supreme Court."
Joining O'Sullivan was reknowned election security expert Harri Hursti, of Nordic Innovation Labs.
Hursti was not impressed in the least:
"We expected a huge pile of data which we wouldn't be able to understand and how it can be evidence. We didn't expect there's no pile of anything."
Lindell's behavior made him and his "Cyber Symposium" a laughingstock on social media.
The problem is presenting the lack of evidence as easy to discern from evidence. He shows a bunch of numbers, he says it's legit, you say it's not, the non computer tech doesn't know which is true. So long as no one sits and asks him to explain his stuff, he continues unscathed.— Michael hines (@Michael hines) 1628819242
What they had up on the screen was basic file metadata. Not logs. Not code. Not anything of any intrinsic or forensic value. Not a smoking gun. For someone who is a computer forensics expert I couldn\u2019t be more pleased with the flop this whole thing was.— Rhythm&Booze (@Rhythm&Booze) 1628822277
The only thing Mike Lindell proved at that symposium is that we should take mental health more seriously in this country.— Covie (@Covie) 1628797212
It's almost sad because he seems like he genuinely believes and he's invested too much of himself to turn back. He's not playing a game like Carlson or McConnell. This is his new drug and it's got him HARD.— The Sugar Grits Underground (@The Sugar Grits Underground) 1628821248
The guy is a shyster, and he makes an inferior & overpriced pillow.... end of story!— Just get it done! (@Just get it done!) 1628823234
I just want to know why a guy who sells horrible pillows has this information, but no one else does.— Spedder1 (@Spedder1) 1628861874
Lindell is not a well man. This is one of the saddest things I've ever witnessed in tech. And I used to have purview into 20+ million AOL accounts.— Dr. Francis \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf2 (@Dr. Francis \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf2) 1628822538
The media needs to start reporting on this, & stop fact checking it?\n\nSo the media should just tell everyone what Mike Lindell wants them to say, rather than seeking the facts?\n\nQuite an attitude to have.— Lorne McCaffrey (@Lorne McCaffrey) 1628849979
\u201cJust forget about evidence.\u201d - Mike Lindell \n\nTells you all you need to know about Mike Lindell.— Ian (@Ian) 1628821443
Lindell's "Cyber Symposium" has been mired by controversy since it began.
Earlier this week, he made headlines after he dashed off stage after news outlets reported a judge had allowed a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit filed against him by Dominion Voting Systems to proceed.
In February, Dominion Voting Systems sued Lindell for $1.3 billion, arguing Lindell defamed the company by promoting the baseless conspiracy theory falsely claiming Dominion conspired with foreign powers to rig voting machines to stop ex-President Trump from winning the 2020 election.
The company seeks more than $651 million in punitive damages as well as a further $651.7 million in compensation from Lindell.
Dominion's claim is about four times MyPillow's annual revenue.
