Dominion Voting Systems on Monday filed a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit accusing MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell of spreading false claims that its voting machines were used to steal the presidential election from Donald Trump in November.


What You Need To Know

  • Dominion Voting Systems filed a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit accusing MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell of spreading false claims that its voting machines were used to steal the presidential election from Donald Trump

  • Lindell is the third conservative figure to face a 10-figure lawsuit from the company, joining former Trump lawyers Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani

  • Dominion cites statements made by Lindell in media appearances, social media posts and a two-hour film he produced

  • Lindell told The Wall Street Journal he is “very, very happy” about the lawsuit because it will allow him to disclose the evidence he claims to have faster

Lindell, a close ally of the former president, is the third conservative figure to face a 10-figure lawsuit from the company, joining former Trump lawyers Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani.

Dominion cites statements made by Lindell in media appearances, social media posts and a two-hour film he produced. The company says it sent multiple cease-and-desist letters, but Lindell proceeded to spread his false allegations, which included saying that machines were programmed to flip votes for Trump to Biden. 

“Lindell knew there was no real ‘evidence’ supporting his claims,” the lawsuit said. “And he is well aware of the independent audits and paper ballot recounts conclusively disproving the Big Lie.”

Dominion says Lindell’s pillow sales soared while he told lies about the company. The complaint features several examples of people on social media bragging about buying Lindell’s pillows, vowing to buy them or encouraging others to buy them in response to his election-fraud claims.

The lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, names both Lindell and MyPillow as defendants and also accuses them of deceptive trade practices.

Dominion says the evidence Lindell and other Trump allies claimed to have “was deliberately misrepresented, manufactured, cherry-picked, and sourced from con artists and conspiracy theorists who were judicially determined to be ‘wholly unreliable.” His documentary film, “Absolute Proof,” which purports to expose the fraud that propelled Joe Biden to the White House, features “shady characters and fake documents sourced from dark corners of the internet,” the company said.

The company argues it has suffered “unprecedented reputational and financial harm.” It says the disinformation campaign has resulted in legislators in some states calling for contracts with Dominion to be reassessed, projected profit losses amounting to over $200 million over five years and its resale value being “destroyed.”

Dominion also says its employees have received death threats, which has led to it spending more than $565,000 on private security. 

“[A]s a result of the viral disinformation campaign, Dominion has been unfairly subjected to the hatred, contempt, and distrust of tens of millions of American voters,” Dominion says in the lawsuit.

Lindell and MyPillow did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Spectrum News on Monday.

Lindell told The Wall Street Journal on Monday that he is “very, very happy” to learn about the lawsuit.

“I have all the evidence on them,” he said. “Now this will get disclosed faster, all the machine fraud and the attack on our country.”

There is no evidence of widespread fraud in the presidential election.

All but one of the more than 60 legal challenges from Trump and his allies have failed in court, including two tossed by the Supreme Court.

The Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the National Association of State Election Directors described the election as "the most secure in American history.” And before resigning in December, Attorney General William Barr said the Justice Department found no evidence of widespread voter fraud that could have changed the outcome of the election.

Dominion says it is impossible to program its voting software to switch votes because the machines print a paper ballot, which is reviewed by the voter and can be used to audit election results.

Earlier this month, Smartmatic, a rival voting technology company, sued Fox News and three of its hosts, as well as Giuliani and Powell, for $2.7 billion, charging that they conspired to spread false claims that it, too, helped “steal” the election.

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