Will Mike Lindell comment on Ellison’s child rape pardon?

On July 1, news broke that a three-person panel containing Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison had pardoned a man who had been convicted of repeatedly raping a 10-year-old girl, apparently to help him avoid deportation and remain in Minnesota.

Last week, I noted that Republican candidates in November’s election had moved quickly to condemn Walz and Ellison’s decision to issue the pardon. Ron Schutz, running to replace Ellison, and Kendall Qualls and Rep. Lisa Demuth, who are running to succeed Walz, all issued strong statements saying that, if they were on the panel, they would not have issued the pardon. Eventually, the Democratic candidate to succeed Walz, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, condemned the pardon, too.

As yet, however, one of the leading Republican gubernatorial candidates, Mike Lindell, appears to have said nothing about the pardon. Since news of it broke, his campaign has remained focused on election integrity, with the 2020 presidential election the leading concern.

A KSTP poll last month put Lindell in the lead for the Republican nomination and, last week, he secured President Trump’s endorsement. If he is elected in November, Lindell will find himself on this three-person panel dealing with cases like this. Minnesotans should know where he stands.