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The Independent
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Jury finds leading proponent of 'The Big Lie' defamed former voting equipment employee
A jury found Monday that MyPillow founder Mike Lindell defamed a former employee of a prominent voting equipment company by calling him a traitor, telling Lindell and his online media platform to pay $2.3 million in damages. The decision came after a two-week trial involving one of the biggest proponents of the myth that the 2020 election was stolen, a lie that still dominates national politics. Other such cases have ended in settlements before they could go before a jury. What happened? The jury found that Lindell made two defamatory statements about Eric Coomer, the former product strategy and security director for Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems. On May 9, 2021, Lindell attacked voting machine companies and then said Coomer was a traitor. That statement came a day after Newsmax apologized to Coomer for airing false allegations against him. Lindell testified that he was upset because he thought Coomer had made a deal to prevent him from appearing on Newsmax to talk about voting machines. However, ahead of the trial, lawyers for both sides agreed that the settlement agreement between Coomer and Newsmax did not mention Lindell. The other statement came on April 6, 2022, a day after Lindell was served with Coomer's lawsuit as he was about to appear at an event at the Colorado state Capitol. Lindell accused Coomer of being 'part of the biggest crime this world has ever seen.' The jury also found Lindell's online media platform, Frankspeech, had defamed Coomer because of comments made by someone appearing at an election fraud symposium streamed on Frankspeech in 2021. The jury cleared Lindell of defaming Coomer eight other times for statements made by both himself and others who appeared on Frankspeech. What has been the reaction? In an appearance on his new online media platform, Lindell TV, on a show hosted by former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani right after the verdict, Lindell stressed that MyPillow, which promoted the 2021 symposium, was not found liable for any of the defamatory statements. Later Lindell told reporters that he would continue to speak out about voting machines. On Tuesday, Lindell's legal defense told supporters in an email that he had stood up for the First Amendment — echoing his defense team's approach — and was 'largely victorious' in the case. 'Mike Lindell stood alone — refusing to pay hush money and refusing to apologize for voicing concerns shared by millions of Americans,' it said. One of Coomer's attorneys, David Beller, said Lindell hurt not only Coomer but the democratic process. He thinks the jury's decision will help repair that damage. 'This verdict allows the county to heal, though undoubtedly with scars money cannot hide,' he said. What is defamation? Defamatory statements are comments that harm someone's reputation. Because Lindell's statements involved a matter of public concern — elections — jurors had to find that Lindell knew they were false or didn't bother to check out whether they were true or not. A 1964 ruling known as New York Times v. Sullivan and related cases set that higher legal bar for things said about public figures or matters. Truth is a defense against defamation. Lindell could have offered proof of his claims in order to defend himself at the trial but didn't. 'We met the highest constitutional standard under the First Amendment and that occurred in large part because Mr. Lindell claimed he had evidence of voter fraud by Dr. Coomer when he had none," said Charles Cain, another lawyer who represented Coomer. Other cases and an apology Coomer has another lawsuit pending in Colorado involving a podcaster who said he had heard Coomer promise to rig the 2020 election in an alleged antifa conference call, an account that was also later shared at Lindell's symposium. He also is suing former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne in Florida. Salem Media Group, a Christian and conservative media company whose hosts had interviewed the podcaster about his account, said in statement on its website that it apologizes for the harm caused to Coomer and his family and that all statements about the allegations have been removed from its website. The company did not immediately respond to questions about when the apology was posted and why. 'The Big Lie' has taken hold of a chunk of the country Lindell has become one of the most enthusiastic proponents of what has been dubbed 'The Big Lie'— the idea that fraud cost Trump the 2020 election. The reason this has taken hold of a significant chunk of the country, despite being repeatedly disproved, is that its main proponent is the president himself. Trump has continued to insist that a murky conspiracy deprived him of a victory in 2020, even after he won an election with the same procedures this past November. There is no evidence of anything amiss with the 2020 election. Trump's then- attorney general said there was no indication of wide-scale fraud. That is the same conclusion of numerous recounts, audits andinvestigations — includingmultiple onesrun by Republicans. Trump and his allies lost more than 50 court cases trying to overturn the election. Still, Trump famously never likes to admit he lost even when he did. In 2016, Trump claimed that fraud was why he lost the Iowa caucuses. Despite winning the 2016 presidential election in the Electoral College, Trump claimed fraud cost him the popular vote in that election. And he has embraced those who helped spread his lies about 2020 — Trump pardoned more than 1,000 people convicted of their role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol to keep Trump in office. He has met with Lindell in the Oval Office.
Associated Press
5 days ago
- Politics
- Associated Press
Jury finds leading proponent of 'The Big Lie' defamed former voting equipment employee
DENVER (AP) — A jury found Monday that MyPillow founder Mike Lindell defamed a former employee of a prominent voting equipment company by calling him a traitor, telling Lindell and his online media platform to pay $2.3 million in damages. The decision came after a two-week trial involving one of the biggest proponents of the myth that the 2020 election was stolen, a lie that still dominates national politics. Other such cases have ended in settlements before they could go before a jury. What happened? The jury found that Lindell made two defamatory statements about Eric Coomer, the former product strategy and security director for Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems. On May 9, 2021, Lindell attacked voting machine companies and then said Coomer was a traitor. That statement came a day after Newsmax apologized to Coomer for airing false allegations against him. Lindell testified that he was upset because he thought Coomer had made a deal to prevent him from appearing on Newsmax to talk about voting machines. However, ahead of the trial, lawyers for both sides agreed that the settlement agreement between Coomer and Newsmax did not mention Lindell. The other statement came on April 6, 2022, a day after Lindell was served with Coomer's lawsuit as he was about to appear at an event at the Colorado state Capitol. Lindell accused Coomer of being 'part of the biggest crime this world has ever seen.' The jury also found Lindell's online media platform, Frankspeech, had defamed Coomer because of comments made by someone appearing at an election fraud symposium streamed on Frankspeech in 2021. The jury cleared Lindell of defaming Coomer eight other times for statements made by both himself and others who appeared on Frankspeech. What has been the reaction? In an appearance on his new online media platform, Lindell TV, on a show hosted by former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani right after the verdict, Lindell stressed that MyPillow, which promoted the 2021 symposium, was not found liable for any of the defamatory statements. Later Lindell told reporters that he would continue to speak out about voting machines. On Tuesday, Lindell's legal defense told supporters in an email that he had stood up for the First Amendment — echoing his defense team's approach — and was 'largely victorious' in the case. 'Mike Lindell stood alone — refusing to pay hush money and refusing to apologize for voicing concerns shared by millions of Americans,' it said. One of Coomer's attorneys, David Beller, said Lindell hurt not only Coomer but the democratic process. He thinks the jury's decision will help repair that damage. 'This verdict allows the county to heal, though undoubtedly with scars money cannot hide,' he said. What is defamation? Defamatory statements are comments that harm someone's reputation. Because Lindell's statements involved a matter of public concern — elections — jurors had to find that Lindell knew they were false or didn't bother to check out whether they were true or not. A 1964 ruling known as New York Times v. Sullivan and related cases set that higher legal bar for things said about public figures or matters. Truth is a defense against defamation. Lindell could have offered proof of his claims in order to defend himself at the trial but didn't. 'We met the highest constitutional standard under the First Amendment and that occurred in large part because Mr. Lindell claimed he had evidence of voter fraud by Dr. Coomer when he had none,' said Charles Cain, another lawyer who represented Coomer. Other cases and an apology Coomer has another lawsuit pending in Colorado involving a podcaster who said he had heard Coomer promise to rig the 2020 election in an alleged antifa conference call, an account that was also later shared at Lindell's symposium. He also is suing former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne in Florida. Salem Media Group, a Christian and conservative media company whose hosts had interviewed the podcaster about his account, said in statement on its website that it apologizes for the harm caused to Coomer and his family and that all statements about the allegations have been removed from its website. The company did not immediately respond to questions about when the apology was posted and why. 'The Big Lie' has taken hold of a chunk of the country Lindell has become one of the most enthusiastic proponents of what has been dubbed 'The Big Lie'— the idea that fraud cost Trump the 2020 election. The reason this has taken hold of a significant chunk of the country, despite being repeatedly disproved, is that its main proponent is the president himself. Trump has continued to insist that a murky conspiracy deprived him of a victory in 2020, even after he won an election with the same procedures this past November. There is no evidence of anything amiss with the 2020 election. Trump's then- attorney general said there was no indication of wide-scale fraud. That is the same conclusion of numerous recounts, audits andinvestigations — includingmultiple onesrun by Republicans. Trump and his allies lost more than 50 court cases trying to overturn the election. Still, Trump famously never likes to admit he lost even when he did. In 2016, Trump claimed that fraud was why he lost the Iowa caucuses. Despite winning the 2016 presidential election in the Electoral College, Trump claimed fraud cost him the popular vote in that election. And he has embraced those who helped spread his lies about 2020 — Trump pardoned more than 1,000 people convicted of their role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol to keep Trump in office. He has met with Lindell in the Oval Office.
CTV News
6 days ago
- Politics
- CTV News
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 US$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. Colleen Slevin, The Associated Press
The Independent
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
MyPillow founder Mike Lindell loses $2.3 million defamation case
MyPillow founder Mike Lindell lost a $2.3 million defamation case to a former employee of Dominion Voting Systems on Monday. Lindell is known for spreading baseless conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election, and it has cost him. He said he was once worth roughly $60 million and is now $10 million in debt, The Associated Press reported. A federal jury has found Lindell guilty of defaming Eric Coomer, a former security and product strategy director for Dominion Voting Systems, according to the AP. Lindell and other supporters of President Donald Trump have made false claims that the companies' voting machines rigged the 2020 election in former President Joe Biden's favor, The New York Times reported. While Lindell's lawyers argued the statements were protected by the First Amendment because elections are a matter of public concern, Coomer's lawyers claimed they were defamation because their client was accused of a crime, the AP reported. Coomer said his career, mental health and his life in general were destroyed after Lindell accused him of 'treason' and statements streamed on Lindell's online media platform, formerly called Frankspeech, accused him of stealing the 2020 election. The former Dominion employee's lawyers claimed that Lindell either knew the statements were false or they were conveyed recklessly without knowing whether they were true. Lindell stood by his false election conspiracies, but he denied making any statements he knew to be false about Coomer. He also said he never accused Coomer of rigging the election and that he's called many people traitors. The MyPillow founder's lawyers said that Lindell's platform is not liable for statements made by others and claimed that Coomer's reputation was already ruined by the time Lindell mentioned him in 2021. Lindell's lawyers partly blamed Coomer's downfall on his own Facebook posts that disparaged Trump. Coomer did acknowledge the 'hyperbolic' posts were a mistake. for $787 million in April 2023 for airing false claims that its machines switched votes from Trump to Biden. Dominion also won a victory in a lawsuit against Newsmax this past April when a judge ruled that the network falsely accused the voting machine company of rigging the 2020 election.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Jury Finds MyPillow's Mike Lindell Liable For Defaming Dominion Voting Systems Executive
A jury in Colorado federal court found that MyPillow founder Mike Lindell was liable for defaming an executive of Dominion Voting Systems with false claims that he had a role in rigging the 2020 election. The jury awarded Eric Coomer $2.3 million in damages, per the AP. More from Deadline Donald Trump Takes A Dig At Tucker Carlson After Former Fox News Host Criticizes POTUS' Iran Policy And His Old Employer For War "Propaganda" ABC News Reveals Promotions In New York And D.C. Newsrooms Terry Moran Defends His Trump-Stephen Miller Social Media Post That Led To ABC News Exit: "It Was Something That Was In My Heart And Mind" Coomer was the director of product strategy and security for the company, alleged that Lindell and his businesses had 'gone out of their way' to target him. Among other things, according to the lawsuit, Lindell called Coomer 'a traitor to the United States,' and accused him of treason. The rigging claims were published on Lindell's website, at times alongside sales pitches for the pillows, per the lawsuit. 'Defendants further made claims against Dr. Coomer a centerpiece of a failed 'Cyber Symposium' that they organized, produced, and broadcast around the world,' per the lawsuit. In the aftermath of the 2020 election, Lindell was a frequent guest on some media outlets on the right, while he continued to push his election claims, which turned out to be false. More to come. Best of Deadline 'Bachelor in Paradise' Cast Announcement: See Who Is Headed To The Beach For Season 10 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery 2025 TV Cancellations: Photo Gallery
