Sorry, I have to chuckle.

In 2021 Mike Lindell, the MyPillow guy and fanatical Trump supporter, claimed he had data that provided proof that the Chinese interfered in the 2020 election and that he had the proof.

He challenged anybody to prove him wrong and offered $5 million to anybody who could do that.

He called the challenge “Prove Mike Wrong.”

Robert Zeidman, a computer forensics expert, and Trump voter decided to take up the challenge. What did he have to lose? Either the data proved Trump was cheated out of the presidency or he would get $5 million. Heads I win, tails you lose.

Zeidman was apparently the only person to take up the challenge, but unfortunately for Lindell, he is good at his job and managed to…prove Mike wrong.

Lindell didn’t want to pay up, so Zeidman took the matter to arbitration.

The panel said Robert Zeidman, a computer forensics expert and 63-year-old Trump voter from Nevada, was entitled to the $5 million payout.

Zeidman had examined Lindell’s data and concluded that not only did it not prove voter fraud, it also had no connection to the 2020 election. He was the only expert who submitted a claim, arbitration records show.

He turned to the arbitrators after Lindell Management, which created the contest, refused to pay him.

In their 23-page decision, the arbitrators said Zeidman proved that Lindell’s material “unequivocally did not reflect November 2020 election data.” They directed Lindell’s firm to pay Zeidman within 30 days.

Oops. If you are going to put your money where your mouth is, best to have a reason to be confident that you are right.

Lindell has been a powerful and significant donor to the Republican Party in my state, although I have been out of electoral politics to have never met him. My impressions of him are entirely based on what I have seen in clips from TV, and I have to say that his bluster and bravado don’t impress me much.

Lots of rich people get the idea that their success in business somehow makes them especially politically savvy, but the skills don’t tend to translate that well. Entrepreneurs in particular tend to have a lot of charisma, but often they lack the common sense that is a necessity for most politicians. Lightning can strike occasionally–witness Donald Trump–but more often than not the political neophytes are too into risk-taking and embellishing.

You may have noticed both those traits in a particular Orange Man as well.

Entrepreneurs are one of the pillars of the political donor community. They tend to be brash, love risk, and overconfident. These traits are vital to entrepreneurial activity, and almost never lead to success in politics.

Lindell seems to fit that mold perfectly. Those traits have worked wonders for a man who did something extraordinary–beat a crack addiction and build a wildly successful company. Kudos to Mike for that.

But in this case, the character traits that have been key to his success have had a less satisfactory result.

Well, for Mike they have. Personally, I want Mr. Zeidman to enjoy his windfall, assuming Mr. Lindell pays up. He better, since it looks like the case is airtight.

A copy of contest rules submitted in the arbitration said disputes would be “resolved exclusively by final and binding arbitration” and noted that arbitration “is subject to very limited review by courts.”

Glasser said the panel’s decision cannot be directly appealed but that Lindell could ask a federal court to quash it on the basis that it represented a “manifest injustice.” The statutory grounds for such a claim are narrow, and it is “extremely rare” for such a claim to succeed, according to Glasser.