MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, a Trump ally, has his phone seizure case thrown out by the Supreme Court.

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear an appeal from Mike Lindell, the MyPillow founder and prominent election denier, who argued unsuccessfully that his rights were violated when FBI agents seized his phone in 2022.

The federal government was investigating the sharing of sensitive information from Colorado’s computerized voting systems. Lindell was a key ally of Donald Trump.

Lindell’s phone was seized while he was in the aisle of a Hardee’s restaurant in Minnesota, as Lindell was returning home from a duck hunting trip.

“Lindell’s irritation with where and how the government took possession of his cell phone does not give rise to a constitutional claim, much less a demonstration of complete disregard for his constitutional rights.” , said Judge Ralph Erickson of the 8th Court in St. Louis. The Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in its decision last September.

The FBI had questioned Lindell about Tina Peters, the Mesa County, Colorado, clerk who was indicted in 2022 on charges that she improperly authorized someone to copy access passwords and passwords. other files from a secure voting system and posting them online, exposing the machines to hackers. Peters argued that files posted online from the machines she supervised demonstrated flaws in the systems.

Peters and Lindell, supporters of former President Donald Trump, have both advanced baseless theories about the accuracy of the 2020 election.

The Supreme Court previously declined to become involved in a defamation suit against Lindell brought by US Dominion, the company that makes voting machines, including those used in Mesa County.

In the rejected appeal Monday, Lindell said the government was retaliating against “those who persist in questioning the integrity of computerized voting systems, particularly those used in the 2020 election.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Supreme Court rejects MyPillow CEO Lindell’s appeal in phone seizure case.