UPDATE: Shasta’s Kevin Crye now says he won’t attend Mike Lindell’s ‘divinely inspired’ event

Shasta County Supervisor Kevin Crye said he no longer will be participating in this week’s Mike Lindell Election Summit, an event that the MyPillow CEO bills as “the perfect plan” to “protect the integrity of our elections.”

On the event website, Crye is still pictured among more than a dozen people listed to present, a lineup that features prominent voices that have pushed baseless claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged, parroting former President Donald Trump.

The Record Searchlight in an email sent Monday morning to Crye asked him why he’s attending Lindell’s summit and what he plans to present at the event.

Crye initially did not reply to the email. But when the story published, about six hours after the email was sent, Crye contacted a Record Searchlight reporter and said he will not be participating in the event.

Former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, ex-Trump security adviser Michael Flynn and ex-conservative TV talk show host Lou Dobbs are among the featured speakers at Lindell’s virtual event on Wednesday, Aug. 16 and Thursday, Aug. 17, according to the website.

Last month, Giuliani acknowledged making false statements about two Georgia election workers that he accused of fixing the 2020 election.

Also scheduled to present are Jeffrey O’Donnell and Doug Frank, who have spoken in Shasta County and promoted conspiracies related to the 2020 election. O’Donnell appeared via Zoom at last month’s election town hall hosted by Shasta County Supervisor Patrick Jones.

In March, Crye flew to Minnesota to meet with Lindell — a trip that cost Shasta County taxpayers nearly $1,400 ― to seek advice on how to hand count ballots.

Since that trip, he has appeared as a guest on The Lindell Report.

Mike Lindell, the My Pillow Inc chief executive poses withTrump supporters as they wait along the motorcade route for former President Donald Trump to return home to Mar-a Lago following his arraignment in New York on April 4, 2023.

On the event’s website, Lindell, who has received national attention for his unfounded election conspiracy theories, presents what he calls “a message of hope” in which he states he asked God for answers.

“During that prayer, God gave me a plan. It is brilliant and divinely inspired, and will immediately secure our election platforms. This plan is unique, has never been done before in world history, and has not even previously been talked about by anyone. It does not rely on legislation, judges, or legal actions, etc.,” Lindell states.

More: Expert: Easy to see why Shasta supervisor’s MyPillow guy trip aroused suspicion

Crye, Jones and Supervisor Chris Kelstrom comprise a board majority that is attempting to institute a hand-count ballot system in Shasta County after they voted to prematurely terminate the county’s contract with Dominion Voting Systems in late January.

How the county would hand count votes still hasn’t been presented in public, though the cost to develop such a system has already exceeded $1.5 million, and it’s expected to go higher.

The push by the board’s far-right majority to hand count ballots has at times fueled the chaos and rancor that board meetings have taken on in recent months. Crye’s vote to ditch the Dominion machines also has in part fueled a recall effort against the supervisor, who was elected last November.

However, it all could be moot if the state passes a bill that would essentially ban hand counts in California.

Assembly Bill 969 would make the manual counting of ballots in elections with more than 1,000 registered voters. There are more than 111,500 registered voters in Shasta County.

District 1 Supervisor Kevin Crye at the Tuesday, April 25, 2023, board meeting.

The bill has passed the Assembly and the Senate Governance and Finance, and Elections and Constitutional Amendments committee.

AB 969 is an emergency statue, so it would take effect immediately upon Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature.

Crye returned from his trip to see Lindell and said at a board meeting that the MyPillow CEO had vowed to help Shasta County financially set up a hand-count vote system.

In April, Supervisor Mary Rickert asked Crye during a public board meeting if Lindell had put money into an escrow account the county could use to pay for its elections. Crye replied “No.”

More: Shasta County’s cost to hand count votes in future elections could exceed $1.5 million

Recent news suggests Lindell might be hard-pressed to come up with the money.

In April, multiple news sources reported that Lindell was ordered to pay $5 million to a man who refuted his data related to the 2020 election.

The Associated Press said Lindell was ordered to pay a software engineer in the election dispute over Lindell’s claims that Chinese interference won the election for President Joe Biden.

David Benda covers business, development and anything else that comes up for the USA TODAY Network in Redding. He also writes the weekly “Buzz on the Street” column. He’s part of a team of dedicated reporters that investigate wrongdoing, cover breaking news and tell other stories about your community. Reach him on Twitter @DavidBenda_RS or by phone at 1-530-338-8323. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Shasta’s Kevin Crye now says he won’t attend Mike Lindell event