This past summer, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell convened a three-day “Cyber Symposium” in South Dakota, promising to provide “irrefutable” evidence the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump by hackers. The three-day, livestreamed event, rife with debunked conspiracy theories, produced no such proof and ended in embarrassing fashion when even some of Lindell’s own invited experts said hacking data he’d touted was nonsensical .
Dozens of state legislators from around the country attended the event, and have parroted Trump and Lindell’s false fraud narrative, demanding audits of the long-settled election. Among them were three Republicans from Washington, whose trips to the Lindell event were paid for with taxpayer dollars. Public records released to The Seattle Times last week show state Reps. Robert Sutherland, R-Granite Falls, Vicki Kraft, R-Vancouver, and Brad Klippert, R-Kennewick, requested and received expense reimbursements from the Legislature for the symposium. In all, the state paid $4,361 for their hotels and flights.
All three lawmakers have stoked doubts about the 2020 election, claiming widespread fraud and irregularities around the nation and in Washington — even as they touted their own reelection wins last fall. Kraft and Klippert are running for Congress in 2022.
In emails last week, Kraft and Sutherland defended their attendance at the pillow magnate’s symposium, saying they’ll use information gleaned there to develop election-related legislation they’ll introduce in the upcoming legislative session. (Seattle Times)
