MyPillow CEO, Mike Lindell, has been ordered to pay $2.3m to a former employee of a voting machine company who sued him for defamation, adding to the legal woes the prominent election denier faces.
A Colorado jury decided the case and amount after Eric Coomer, who formerly worked in security and voting technology strategy for the voting machine company Dominion, filed a lawsuit against Lindell and a host of others who spread false conspiracy theories that upended his life. Coomer’s attorneys had originally requested $62.7m.
Lindell testified in the case, saying he didn’t make any knowingly false comments about Coomer. He said Coomer’s claims about him led to him being unable to go on Newsmax shows – the rightwing outlet was also sued by Coomer and settled. Lindell also told one of Coomer’s lawyers that he was “part of the biggest coverup of the biggest crime the world has ever seen”, according to the Associated Press. “I believe what you did to me and MyPillow was criminal,” he said to the lawyer.
The lawsuit came after rumors spread about Coomer online following the 2020 election, which Donald Trump lost. A rightwing podcaster in Colorado, Joe Oltmann, claimed a man who identified himself as “Eric the Dominion guy” had been on an “antifa” call before the election where he said: “Don’t worry about the election, Trump is not gonna win. I made fucking sure of that.” Oltmann has not provided any evidence of the call. Oltmann, who also faces a lawsuit from Coomer, testified in the case and continued to say Coomer was on the supposed call, which he insisted did actually happen.
Coomer filed the lawsuit against Lindell in April 2022. Lindell accused Coomer of treason. Coomer’s attorneys have argued Lindell’s statements about Coomer were in part motivated by Newsmax not allowing Lindell to go on its programs after the company settled the lawsuit Coomer brought against it for spreading false claims, according to the Denver Post. Lindell’s attorneys said Coomer’s lawsuit against Lindell “triggered” the pillow salesman into defaming Coomer, the paper reported.
Throughout the trial, Lindell’s online TV platform has covered the case and sought to sell its products as a way to help Lindell. Lindell is in financial trouble, he has said repeatedly. He is also being sued by Dominion and Smartmatic, another voting machine company. Lindell has struggled to pay for his legal defense – a law firm that was representing him sought to be removed from his cases because he owed them millions of dollars and couldn’t pay, the Star Tribune reported. He was also served with a new lawsuit outside the Denver courthouse, this one from FedEx over $9m in unpaid fees, according to a local TV reporter there.
On a website for Lindell’s legal defense fund, he writes that he would never settle the lawsuits against him, which he refers to as “lawfare”. He said during the trial that he was $10m in debt.
“The electronic voting machine companies and Eric Coomer are trying to silence me and scare anyone who dares to ask questions. But I won’t back down. I’ve put everything on the line – my business, my reputation, my time – because I believe God put me on this mission,” the website says. A crowdfunding page for Lindell’s legal defense has raised more than $400,000.
Coomer testified that he had gone into hiding and experienced death threats as a result of the persistent lies about him. An expert hired by his side said it would cost about $2.8m for him to repair his reputation, according to Colorado Public Radio.
“Ultimately it’s to try to regain some semblance of my life. I didn’t just lose my livelihood, I lost my life as a direct result of statements by Mr Lindell accusing me of being a traitor,” Coomer said.
Using defamation law to go after people and companies trafficking in election lies have become more common after 2020. Several lawsuits have been settled, including a claim Coomer brought against conservative outlet Newsmax, while juries have awarded damages in others, including a major judgment against Rudy Giuliani.
