Dominion Voting Systems Files Defamation Lawsuit Against MyPillow, CEO Mike Lindell
Dominion Voting Systems filed a defamation lawsuit against MyPillow Inc. and its CEO Mike Lindell on Monday, saying he spread false information that its voting machines rigged the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
Dominion filed a suit in federal court in Washington, D.C., seeking damages in excess of $1.3 billion.
According to the complaint, Lindell, an ally of former President Donald Trump, knowingly participated in spreading disinformation that Dominion's voting systems stole the election in favor of President Joe Biden. The company calls this the "Big Lie."
The complaint also alleges that MyPillow ran ads targeted at people who believed the conspiracy theories about the election outcome in order to profit.
"Lindell — a talented salesman and former professional card counter — sells the lie to this day because the lie sells pillows. MyPillow's defamatory marketing campaign — with promo codes like 'FightforTrump,' '45,' 'Proof,' and 'QAnon'—has increased MyPillow sales by 30-40% and continues duping people into redirecting their election-lie outrage into pillow purchases," the complaint reads.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Lindell said he was "very, very happy" to find out about the suit.
"I have all the evidence on them," he told the Journal. "Now this will get disclosed faster, all the machine fraud and the attack on our country."
Social media giant Twitter suspended Lindell from its platform last month.
He previously used his verified account to spread debunked theories about the election and widespread voter fraud.
The account was "permanently suspended due to repeated violations of our Civil Integrity Policy," a Twitter spokesperson told NPR at the time. It was not clear which posts from Lindell led to his removal from the social media platform.
Dominion has also filed lawsuits against Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, lawyers who worked with Trump on his post-election flurry of legal actions, over similar fraud claims. The company is seeking $1.3 billion in damages from each of them.
Read the complaint below. [Copyright 2021 NPR]
