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On Monday evening, MyPillow CEO and Donald Trump ally Mike Lindell texted Rolling Stone: “Awesome win! MyPillow 100% innocent!!!!”
It was an odd moment to be taking a victory lap. Moments earlier, a jury ruled that Lindell had defamed a former Dominion Voting Systems executive named Eric Coomer on two occasions, including by calling him a traitor, and ordered Lindell to fork over $2.3 million in damages.
Why was Lindell reveling in supposed victory? Presumably because the jury damages awarded to Coomer were significantly less than the $26.7 million sought by his attorneys.
In his text to Rolling Stone, Lindell added that he planned to appeal the ruling, declaring: “My fight to get rid of the machines will continue on stronger than ever!”
As previously reported by Rolling Stone, Lindell had seemed almost giddy to make his case in court ahead of the trial. “Of course I’m gonna testify at my own trial!” he said earlier this month. “I have nothing to hide. I am a former crack addict; I’ve always been open about that. I’ve always been open about everything! I’m as transparent as they come.”
Lindell did testify in his own defense, telling the jury that he didn’t knowingly defame Coomer when he accused the Dominion director of being a traitor, while boosting wild conspiracy theories insinuating that Coomer had been involved in efforts by his employer to rig the 2020 election against President Donald Trump. (There is no evidence of any such plot.)
While Lindell may be celebrating only being slapped with a seven figure damages penalty in this case, Coomer’s lawsuit is the first in a series of defamation claims against the MAGA pillow magnate, related to his claims about the 2020 election. Lindell has also been sued directly by Dominion and by Smartmatic, another election hardware and software company about which Lindell made wild claims.
Dominion is seeking $1.3 billion in damages from Lindell, Smartmatic has left the amount up to the judge. But it’s safe to say that Lindell is nowhere close to being out of the woods.
