Dominion Voting Systems on Monday filed a $ 1.3 billion defamation lawsuit against Minnesota founder and CEO MyPillow, saying Mike Lindell accused the companion falselyy of manipulating the 2020 presidential election.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in the District of Columbia, alleges that Lindell ignored repeated warnings from Dominion, a voice technology company that has filed similar lawsuits against Donald Trump attorneys Rudolph Giuliani and Sidney Powell.
Dominion accuses Lindell of repeatedly telling what the lawsuit calls the “ Big Lie, ” that the company used its technology to steal Trump’s election.
“No amount of money can repair the damage done by these lies, which can be easily disproved. Hundreds of documented audits and recounts have shown that Dominion machines have accurately counted votes. We look forward to proving these facts in court. , ”says the lawsuit.
Lindell says he welcomes a lawsuit
Lindell, known as the “MyPillow Guy” from his TV commercials, told The Associated Press that he welcomed the lawsuit and said the discovery process will prove him right.
“It’s a really good day. I’ve been looking forward to them finally filing charges,” said Lindell, who went to the White House to promote his theories in the closing days of the Trump administration.
Lindell, a staunch supporter of Trump, said CBS News’ Sara Cook last month: “I want all the American people and the world to see the horrific things that these (Dominion voting machines) are capable of and what they’ve done to our country and what – they allow other countries to steal our elections and just hijack our election.
There was no widespread election fraud, as a series of election officials across the country, including former Trump Attorney General William Barr, have confirmed. Republican governors in Arizona and Georgia, key states on the battlefield critical to President Joe Biden’s victory, also vouched for the integrity of their states’ elections.
Nearly all of Trump’s and his allies’ legal challenges were dismissed by judges, including two thrown out by the Supreme Court, including three Trump-nominated justices.
Twitter in January Lindell permanently banned from the platform after continuing to claim Trump won the presidential election. Twitter said it banned him for “repeated violations” of its civil integrity policy.
Lindell took offense at the fact that he was repeatedly accused in the trial of telling the “Big Lie” – noting that the phrase was coined by Adolf Hitler. “The big lie here is the big lie,” Lindell said. “They are the big lie.”
Lindell stood by a lengthy video reinforcing his claims that he released Feb. 5 and said he recently posted a 20-minute version.
This is the third defamation lawsuit that Dominion has brought against his accusers. At a press conference, Dominion CEO John Poulos said “it is certainly not the last”. He said the company is also looking at the actions of various news organizations in the aftermath of the election.
“Despite repeated warnings and attempts to share the facts with him, Mr. Lindell has continued to maliciously spread false claims about Dominion, giving empty guarantees each time that he would come up with overwhelming evidence,” Poulos said in a statement. statement. “These claims have caused irreparable damage to Dominion’s reputation and have compromised the safety of our employees and customers.”
“Lying” to increase profits?
Poulos and Dominion attorney Megan Meier claimed Lindell didn’t really believe Trump’s election was stolen. “He knew that lying about Trump’s loss would be good for MyPillow’s profit,” said Meier.
They also disputed Lindell’s claim that he lost money for adhering to his claims, saying they were looking forward to investigating MyPillow’s finances as part of the legal process.
MyPillow’s defamatory marketing campaign – with promotional codes like ‘FightforTrump’, ’45, ‘Proof’ and ‘QAnon’ – has increased MyPillow sales by 30-40% and continues to mislead people to turn their election wing outrage into pillow purchases , the lawsuit claims.
Lindell said MyPillow got a brief increase in sales. But he said more than 20 retailers now have that dropped his productsincluding Bed Bath & Beyond and Kohl’s, and noted that Twitter banned him and MyPillow permanently.
“I’d like to go to court with Dominion tomorrow,” Lindell said.