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USA Today
4 days ago
- Business
- USA Today
Mike Lindell verdict: MyPillow founder defamed former voting equipment company boss
Mike Lindell verdict: MyPillow founder defamed former voting equipment company boss Show Caption Hide Caption Jury finds Mike Lindell guilty of defaming former Dominion employee A federal jury in Colorado found that MyPillow founder Mike Lindell defamed a former employee at Dominion Voting Systems after the 2020 presidential election. Scripps News - KMGH Denver A federal jury has found MyPillow founder Mike Lindell liable for defaming a former Colorado voting system executive after the 2020 presidential election. The Denver-based jury determined on June 16 that Lindell made "baseless conspiracy theories claiming election fraud in the 2020 election" and slandered Eric Coomer, a former director at Dominion Voting Systems, a North American company that makes and sells voting machines and tabulators. Coomer filed the suit in the District of Colorado in May 2022, claiming Lindell and two of his companies − MyPillow and FrankSpeech − helped spread a conspiracy theory that he rigged the election against President Donald Trump. More: Why is Mike Lindell in court? MyPillow CEO on trial for defamation lawsuit According to the 67-page suit obtained by USA TODAY, Lindell previously called Coomer "a traitor." The trial started on June 2 and lasted two weeks, online court records show. 'We're thrilled with the verdict,' said Coomer's attorney, Charles Caine, told Colorado Public Radio (CPR), after the jury handed down its decision, adding his client has "gone through a lot and he's still going to be looking over his shoulder... Hopefully this serves as deterrence for individuals working on our elections from being targeted." USA TODAY has reached out to Caine as well as Lindell's attorneys. Mike Lindell ordered to pay $2.3 million in damages Lindell, 63, has publicly defended his claims that the 2020 election was rigged. "They're coming after me and MyPillow for telling the truth about our elections!" Lindell wrote on May 31 on Facebook. After the verdict, Lindell was ordered to pay nearly $2.3 million in damages, CPR reported, a number nowhere near the award amount Coomer had requested ($62.7 million). Jurors, the outlet said, rejected claims Lindell and his two companies were responsible for comments made by others on social media platforms he controlled. According to court documents, Lindell aligned himself with podcaster Joseph Oltmann to spread a conspiracy theory he was involved in rigging voting systems during the 2020 election. Lindell spread a claim that originated from Oltmann, who is alleged to have made up a story about overhearing someone identified only as 'Eric, the Dominion guy' claiming to have rigged the election against Trump. Oltmann disclosed the alleged claims on an episode of his podcast, which aired after former President Joe Biden's victory in November 2020, according to the lawsuit. The podcaster also said he infiltrated the conference call for a left-wing political group, which is where "Eric" made the claims on an unspecified date months before the election, the complaint says. Lindell amplified the claim online, jurors found, causing threats against Coomer, whom Oltmann later identified as the anonymous 'Eric." Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@ and follow her on X @nataliealund.
Newsweek
4 days ago
- Politics
- Newsweek
Mike Lindell Suffers Major $2.3 Million Legal Blow
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. MyPillow founder Mike Lindell has been found guilty of defamation against a former executive at an electoral voting machine company and must now pay an eye-watering $2.3 million. Lindell was sued for defamation by former Dominion Voting Systems executive Eric Coomer, who accused him of spreading conspiracy theories by falsely claiming the firm had helped rig the 2020 presidential election, which Joe Biden won over Donald Trump. Lindell denied wrongdoing and argued his statements about the issue were protected by the First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech. However, Coomer's lawyers successfully argued that Lindell's words constituted defamation, as he had accused their client of a crime by alleging that Coomer was a "traitor." Newsweek reached out to Lindell via email for comment. Why It Matters Conspiracy theories proliferated online following Trump's 2020 defeat, with some of his Make America Great Again (MAGA) followers falsely claiming the election was fixed. Trump himself had alleged that voter fraud and a "rigged election" were responsible for him losing the White House that year. What To Know Coomer used to work as the security and product strategy director at Dominion Voting Systems. He said that he had to flee his home "in fear for his safety" following Lindell's online attacks against his character. Lindell's lawyers suggested Coomer bore some responsibility after writing Facebook posts that disparaged Trump. Coomer agreed his "hyperbolic" posts were a mistake, but insisted it was Lindell's attacks falsely naming him as the architect of a treasonous plot that had destroyed his life. The former voting machine executive asked for $62.7 million in damages. However, the federal jury in Colorado, which found Lindell guilty of defamation on Monday, ordered the MyPillow boss and his online media platform, formerly known as Frankspeech, to pay the lesser amount of $2.3 million. MyPillow founder Mike Lindell pictured at a protest area near the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 20, 2024. MyPillow founder Mike Lindell pictured at a protest area near the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 20, maintained throughout the trial that the 2020 election had been stolen, but his legal team did not call any experts to support his claims or provide evidence for his allegations. The legal battle is not the first time the issue has been before the courts. Dominion sued Fox News for $1.6 billion for airing false claims that the company's voting machines were rigged. The broadcaster eventually reached a $787.5 million settlement and avoided a trial. Dominion also filed lawsuits against several Trump allies. In October 2023, the Associated Press reported that Lindell was unable to pay his lawyers the millions he owed them, and they were seeking a way to quit the case. Lindell claimed he was "in ruins" financially in April of this year due to various other debts,including owing voting software company Smartmatic $56,396 following a similar legal battle and a $9 million lawsuit for alleged unpaid delivery fees to FedEx. MyPillow is still selling pillows and bedsheets, with a page on the website before the trial dedicated to details of the defamation case and urging customers to "donate now" to the legal fund, with amounts ranging up to $1,000. He described the court case as "one of the most important trials in history." The page was still up on his company's website as of early Tuesday morning. What People Are Saying Charles Cain, one of the attorneys for former Dominion Voting Systems executive Eric Coomer, told jurors in closing arguments on Friday: "This is hurting democracy. This is misinformation. It's not been vetted, and it needs to stop. MyPillow founder Mike Lindell said in court, per the Associated Press: "I will not stop talking until we don't have voting machines in this country." What Happens Next Lindell appears set to face further legal wrangling after stating that he plans to launch an appeal.
Boston Globe
4 days ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Jury finds MyPillow founder defamed former employee for Dominion voting company
Advertisement Lindell said he would appeal the financial award, saying Coomer's lawyers did not prove Coomer had been harmed. He also said he would continue to speak out about election security, including criticizing the makers of election equipment like Dominion. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'I will not stop talking until we don't have voting machines in this country,' said Lindell, who backs paper ballots counted by hand. Lindell stuck by his false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen during the trial, but did not call any experts to present evidence of his claims. Cain faulted Lindell for being 'all hat and no cattle.' Even though the damage award was smaller than he had asked for, Cain said he thought it would still send a message that people who work behind the scenes of elections should not be attacked. But he said Coomer, who has recevied death threats, is 'still going to be looking over his shoulder.' Advertisement Dominion's voting machines became the target of elaborate conspiracy theories among allies of President Donald Trump, who continues to falsely claim that his loss to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 was due to widespread fraud. Dominion won a $787 million settlement in a defamation lawsuit it filed against Fox News over its airing of false claims against the company and has another lawsuit against the conservative network Newsmax. Newsmax apologized to Coomer in 2021 for airing false allegations against him. Coomer said during the two-week Lindell trial that his career and life were destroyed by the statements. His lawyers said Lindell either knew the statements were lies, or conveyed them recklessly without knowing if they were true. Lindell's lawyers denied the claims and said Frankspeech was not liable for statements made by others. The jury found that eight other statements made by Lindell and others appearing on Frankspeech were not. Lindell said he went to trial to draw attention to the need to get rid of electronic voting machines that have been targeted in a web of conspiracy theories. He said he used to be worth about $60 million before he started speaking out about the 2020 election and is now $10 million in debt. Reviews, recounts and audits in the battleground states where Trump contested his loss in 2020 all affirmed Democrat Joe Biden's victory. Trump's attorney general at the time said there was no evidence of widespread fraud, and Trump and his allies lost dozens of court cases seeking to overturn the result. Advertisement Lindell said his beliefs that the 2020 election was tainted by fraud were influenced by watching the 2020 HBO documentary 'Kill Chain' and by the views of Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn. In an interview for a documentary Lindell made in 2021, Flynn said foreign interference was going to happen in U.S. elections, and Lindell said he had no reason to doubt the claim since Flynn had worked for both political parties in intelligence. Lindell distanced himself from an account by a Colorado podcaster who claimed to have heard a conference call from the anti-fascist group Antifa before the 2020 election. The podcaster claimed that on the call someone named Eric from Dominion said he would make sure that Trump would not win, a story that was recounted on Frankspeech during a 2021 event. Lindell said he only learned about that during the trial. Lindell said he never accused Coomer of rigging the election, but he did say he was upset because he said Newsmax blocked him from being able to go on air to talk about voting machines after it apologized to Coomer. Coomer denied there was any such deal to block Lindell under his agreement with the network. Coomer's lawyers tried to show how their client's life was devastated by the conspiracy theories spreading about him. Lindell was comparatively late to seize on Coomer, not mentioning him until February 2021, well after his name had been circulated by other Trump partisans. Coomer said the conspiracy theories cost him his job, his mental health and the life he'd built and said Lindell's statements were the most distressing of all. He specifically pointed to a statement on May 9, 2021, when Lindell described what he believed Coomer had done as 'treason.' Advertisement Lindell's attorneys argued that Coomer's reputation was already in tatters by the time Lindell mentioned him. They said that was partly because of Coomer's own Facebook posts disparaging Trump, which the former Dominion employee acknowledged were 'hyperbolic' and had been a mistake. Lindell denied making any statements he knew to be false about Coomer and testified that he has called many people traitors. His lawyers argued the statements were about a matter of public concern — elections — and therefore protected by the First Amendment. But Coomer's lawyers said the statements crossed the line into defamation because Lindell accused Coomer of treason, a crime.
5 days ago
- Politics
Jury finds MyPillow founder defamed former employee for a leading voting equipment company
DENVER -- A federal jury in Colorado on Monday found that one of the nation's most prominent election conspiracy theorists, MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, defamed a former employee for a leading voting equipment company after the 2020 presidential election. The jury found that two of Lindell's statements about Eric Coomer, the former security and product strategy director at Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems, including calling him a traitor, were defamatory. It ordered Lindell and his online media platform, formerly known as Frankspeech, to pay Coomer $2.3 million in damages, far less than the $62.7 million Coomer had asked for to help send a message to discourage attacks on election workers. 'This is hurting democracy. This is misinformation. It's not been vetted and it needs to stop,' Charles Cain, one of Coomer's attorneys, told jurors in closing arguments Friday. Lindell said he would appeal the financial award, saying Coomer's lawyers did not prove Coomer had been harmed. He also said he would continue to speak out about election security, including criticizing the makers of election equipment like Dominion. 'I will not stop talking until we don't have voting machines in this country,' said Lindell, who backs paper ballots counted by hand. Lindell stuck by his false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen during the trial, but did not call any experts to present evidence of his claims. Cain faulted Lindell for being 'all hat and no cattle." Even though the damage award was smaller than he had asked for, Cain said he thought it would still send a message that people who work behind the scenes of elections should not be attacked. But he said Coomer, who has recevied death threats, is 'still going to be looking over his shoulder.' Dominion's voting machines became the target of elaborate conspiracy theories among allies of President Donald Trump, who continues to falsely claim that his loss to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 was due to widespread fraud. Dominion won a $787 million settlement in a defamation lawsuit it filed against Fox News over its airing of false claims against the company and has another lawsuit against the conservative network Newsmax. Newsmax apologized to Coomer in 2021 for airing false allegations against him. Coomer said during the two-week Lindell trial that his career and life were destroyed by the statements. His lawyers said Lindell either knew the statements were lies, or conveyed them recklessly without knowing if they were true. Lindell's lawyers denied the claims and said Frankspeech was not liable for statements made by others. The jury found that eight other statements made by Lindell and others appearing on Frankspeech were not. Lindell said he went to trial to draw attention to the need to get rid of electronic voting machines that have been targeted in a web of conspiracy theories. He said he used to be worth about $60 million before he started speaking out about the 2020 election and is now $10 million in debt. Reviews, recounts and audits in the battleground states where Trump contested his loss in 2020 all affirmed Democrat Joe Biden's victory. Trump's attorney general at the time said there was no evidence of widespread fraud, and Trump and his allies lost dozens of court cases seeking to overturn the result. Lindell said his beliefs that the 2020 election was tainted by fraud were influenced by watching the 2020 HBO documentary 'Kill Chain' and by the views of Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn. In an interview for a documentary Lindell made in 2021, Flynn said foreign interference was going to happen in U.S. elections, and Lindell said he had no reason to doubt the claim since Flynn had worked for both political parties in intelligence. Lindell distanced himself from an account by a Colorado podcaster who claimed to have heard a conference call from the anti-fascist group Antifa before the 2020 election. The podcaster claimed that on the call someone named Eric from Dominion said he would make sure that Trump would not win, a story that was recounted on Frankspeech during a 2021 event. Lindell said he only learned about that during the trial. Lindell said he never accused Coomer of rigging the election, but he did say he was upset because he said Newsmax blocked him from being able to go on air to talk about voting machines after it apologized to Coomer. Coomer denied there was any such deal to block Lindell under his agreement with the network. Coomer's lawyers tried to show how their client's life was devastated by the conspiracy theories spreading about him. Lindell was comparatively late to seize on Coomer, not mentioning him until February 2021, well after his name had been circulated by other Trump partisans. Coomer said the conspiracy theories cost him his job, his mental health and the life he'd built and said Lindell's statements were the most distressing of all. He specifically pointed to a statement on May 9, 2021, when Lindell described what he believed Coomer had done as 'treason.' Lindell's attorneys argued that Coomer's reputation was already in tatters by the time Lindell mentioned him. They said that was partly because of Coomer's own Facebook posts disparaging Trump, which the former Dominion employee acknowledged were 'hyperbolic' and had been a mistake. Lindell denied making any statements he knew to be false about Coomer and testified that he has called many people traitors. His lawyers argued the statements were about a matter of public concern — elections — and therefore protected by the First Amendment. But Coomer's lawyers said the statements crossed the line into defamation because Lindell accused Coomer of treason, a crime.
NBC News
5 days ago
- Business
- NBC News
Jury finds MyPillow founder defamed a former voting equipment firm employee
DENVER — A federal jury in Colorado on Monday found that one of the nation's most prominent election conspiracy theorists, MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, defamed a former employee for a leading voting equipment company after the 2020 presidential election. The employee, Eric Coomer, sued after Lindell called him a traitor and accusations about him stealing the election were streamed on Lindell's online media platform. Coomer was the security and product strategy director at Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems, whose voting machines became the target of elaborate conspiracy theories among allies of President Donald Trump, who continues to falsely claim that his loss to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 was due to widespread fraud. Dominion won a $787 million settlement in a defamation lawsuit it filed against Fox News over its airing of false claims against the company and has another lawsuit against the conservative network Newsmax. Newsmax apologized to Coomer in 2021 for airing false allegations against him. Coomer said during the two-week Lindell trial that his career and life were destroyed by the statements. His lawyers said Lindell either knew the statements were lies, or conveyed them recklessly without knowing if they were true. Lindell's lawyers denied the claims and said his online platform, formerly known as Frankspeech, is not liable for statements made by others. Lindell said he went to trial to draw attention to the need to get rid of electronic voting machines that have been targeted in a web of conspiracy theories. He said he used to be worth about $60 million before he started speaking out about the 2020 election and is now $10 million in debt. Reviews, recounts and audits in the battleground states where Trump contested his loss in 2020 all affirmed Democrat Joe Biden's victory. Trump's attorney general at the time said there was no evidence of widespread fraud, and Trump and his allies lost dozens of court cases seeking to overturn the result. Lindell stuck by his false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen during the trial, but did not call any experts to present evidence of his claims. Lindell said his beliefs that the 2020 election was tainted by fraud were influenced by watching the 2020 HBO documentary 'Kill Chain' and by the views of Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn. In an interview for a documentary Lindell made in 2021, Flynn said foreign interference was going to happen in U.S. elections, and Lindell said he had no reason to doubt the claim since Flynn had worked for both political parties in intelligence. Lindell distanced himself from an account by a Colorado podcaster who claimed to have heard a conference call from the anti-fascist group Antifa before the 2020 election. The podcast claimed that on the call someone named Eric from Dominion said he would make sure that Trump would not win, a story that was recounted on Frankspeech during a 2021 event. Lindell said he only learned about that during the trial. Lindell said he never accused Coomer of rigging the election, but he did say he was upset because he said Newsmax blocked him from being able to go on air to talk about voting machines after it apologized to Coomer. Coomer denied there was any such deal to block Lindell under his agreement with the network. Coomer's lawyers tried to show how their client's life was devastated by the conspiracy theories spreading about him. Lindell was comparatively late to seize on Coomer, not mentioning him until February 2021, well after his name had been circulated by other Trump partisans. Coomer said the conspiracy theories cost him his job, his mental health and the life he'd built and said Lindell's statements were the most distressing of all. He specifically pointed to a statement on May 9, 2021, when Lindell described what he believed Coomer had done as 'treason.' Lindell's attorneys argued that Coomer's reputation was already in tatters by the time Lindell mentioned him. They said that was partly because of Coomer's own Facebook posts disparaging Trump, which the former Dominion employee acknowledged were 'hyperbolic' and had been a mistake.
