RNC Run Like 'Big Money-Laundering Operation,' Trump Ally Mike Lindell Says

Mike Lindell, a controversial businessman and staunch ally of former President Donald Trump, had harsh words for the Republican National Committee (RNC) as he seeks to be elected to the top role of the political organization.

Prior to his entry into the political sphere, Lindell was best known as the founder and CEO of the sleep product company, MyPillow. In recent years, he has become better known as an outspoken and fierce ally of Trump—loudly supporting the former president's false assertions of fraud in the 2020 election. Lindell frequently claims to have substantial evidence to prove those debunked allegations.

Lindell is also in the midst of challenging Ronna McDaniel for the position of RNC chair. He announced his intention to challenge the incumbent chair in late November, following the GOP's historically disappointing results in the midterm elections last month.

"I am 100 percent running for the RNC chairman against Ronna McDaniel," Lindell said in an interview with fellow Trump loyalist Steve Bannon. "I'm all in... and one of the things that one of the big donors said to me, he said, Mike, everybody wants you to be head of the RNC, some of them just don't know it yet."

On Friday, in another interview with Bannon on his War Room series for the Real America's Voice news network, Lindell once again lashed out at the RNC—accusing the conservative governing body of being "a big money-laundering operation." A clip of the interview was shared to Twitter by Ron Filipkowski and, as of Saturday afternoon, has garnered over 115,000 views.

"There are so many problems, Steve. I've spent the last three weeks doing due diligence within the RNC," Lindell said. "Just the money itself that it costs. Forty cents for every dollar that you go out and get from big donors goes to these things, one of them's called 'Data Trust.' To me, it's like a big money laundering operation. Don't quote me on that, we're still digging."

"This is disgusting. The wasted, frivolous money that goes down the drain. The big donors, they deserve better. We deserve some return on our investment. I used to give a lot of money to the RNC. I won't do it and neither will the big donors in its current condition, and it needs new leadership," he added.

According to The Hill, a majority of the current members of the RNC have endorsed McDaniel for reelection despite the results of the recent midterms. In the November election, Republicans lost a Senate seat and gained only a razor-thin House majority. The election for the top RNC position will be held sometime in January.

McDaniel was previously elected to the position in 2017 with the endorsement of Trump. If she is reelected, her next term will run through the 2024 election cycle.

Newsweek reached out to the RNC for comment.