My Pillow founder defamed employee of voting machine company, jury finds

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By Dietrich Knauth

(Reuters) -A federal jury in Colorado on Monday ordered My Pillow founder Mike Lindell to pay $2.3 million in damages, finding that Lindell’s statements about election fraud were false and defamed an employee of voting machine company Dominion Voting Systems.

The lawsuit was filed by Eric Coomer, former director of product strategy for Dominion, who said that Lindell spread baseless conspiracy theories about election fraud in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, which Republican Donald Trump lost.

Lindell has been a steadfast supporter of Trump and was among many Trump allies who advanced unfounded claims of fraud in the 2020 election.

Lindell’s company, My Pillow, was found not liable for its founder’s statements, which Lindell said was a victory.

“I am very happy that My Pillow was 100% vindicated,” Lindell told Reuters.

Trump allies claimed that Denver-based Dominion’s ballot-counting machines were used to manipulate the presidential election in favor of Democrat Joe Biden, who defeated then-President Trump. Those claims have been rejected by the courts, and the company has won large settlements after suing Trump allies for defamation.

Dominion sued Lindell separately in 2021, and the company’s defamation lawsuit is proceeding in a Washington D.C. federal court.

Lindell said that he was likely to appeal Monday’s judgment against him, saying that the lawsuit was meant to suppress his voice. Lindell said he would not stop fighting the use of electronic voting machines in U.S. elections.

Attorneys for Coomer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The lawsuit claimed that Lindell targeted Coomer in particular, saying that he had committed treason, and Lindell’s false statements ruined Coomer’s ability to work in the elections industry and subjected him to frequent death threats.

(Reporting by Dietrich Knauth; Editing by Christopher Cushing)