WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) – An election software company is asking a federal judge to punish MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell for using the courts to attack the results of the 2020 Presidential election.
On Feb. 11, Smartmatic – which has filed its own defamation lawsuit against Lindell – submitted a motion for sanctions in Lindell’s lawsuit against it. The action comes in Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation case against Lindell, in which he filed a third-party complaint against Smartmatic.
“Mr. Lindell decided to launch a preemptive attack on Smartmatic by suing it for engaging in ‘lawfare.’ But this term—whatever it means—does not equate to a cause of action,” the motion says.
“All of Mr. Lindell’s claims in this case are meritless. He and his counsel should be sanctioned for abusing the legal system and engaging in the baseless ‘lawfare’ that Mr. Lindell accuses Smartmatic of waging.”
District of Columbia federal judge Carol Nichols last year denied MyPillow’s motion to dismiss Dominion’s lawsuit, which alleges Lindell and his company defamed Dominion by alleging its voting machines helped rig the election for Joe Biden.
Litigation brought by Donald Trump supporters alleging the same scheme has been a painful loss for those plaintiffs, who are now on the hook for $175,000 in sanctions in Michigan for not supporting their claims with any evidence.
In Delaware, Dominion defeated Fox News’ motion to dismiss the company’s defamation lawsuit that alleges Lou Dobbs and Sean Hannity kept giving a platform to those crying foul over Trump’s loss. The network’s tweets regarding “the leftwing establishment” aligning its forces to “overthrow the United States government #MAGA” are also at issue.
Fox News also gave Lindell airtime to promote his conspiracy theories. Smartmatic joined Dominion, which is alleging $650 million in damages, in suing him on Jan. 18 in D.C. federal court and says Lindell is exploiting xenophobia to boost his public profile.
"After others had gone silent, Mr. Lindell spoke out about the 2020 U.S. election being stolen from President Trump. He held rallies. He went on TV. He published videos," Smartmatic’s suit says. "Once a fixture on late night infomercials embracing his pillows, in early 2021, Mr. Lindell’s infomercials turned to spreading disinformation about the 2020 U.S. election.
"Mr. Lindell’s message was as dangerous as it was factually inaccurate."
Smartmatic said its only role in the election was to provide technology, support and services to Los Angeles County. Its motion for sanctions says his third-party complaint against it is based on vote-rigging allegations that have already been disproven.
His lawyers, too, should be punished for bringing RICO claims that “lack a plausible basis,” the motion says.
“They have aided and abetted Mr. Lindell’s frivolous attack on Smartmatic and failed to live up to the responsibilities with which they are entrusted as officers of the court,” the motion says.
The requested sanctions are Smartmatic’s legal fees and costs, with the money paid to Lindell’s lawyers being disgorged and given to the court.
Lindell is represented by Douglas Daniels and Heath Novosad of Daniels & Tredennick in Houston and Earl Mayfield of Juris Day in Fairfax, Va.