WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) – MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell has lost part of his defense in a defamation lawsuit brought by a voting machine company upset with his public statements after the 2020 Presidential election.
Lindell and MyPillow were sued by U.S. Dominion, and Lindell filed counter-claims against it and software company Smartmatic. Washington, D.C., federal judge Carl Nichols on May 19 tossed Lindell’s claims.
Nichols also partly granted Smartmatic’s motion for sanctions that argued his claims against it were frivolous.
“The court agrees with Smartmatic that Lindell has asserted at least some groundless claims,” he wrote. “In particular, the court concludes that at the very least Lindell’s claim against Smartmatic under the Support or Advocacy Clause falls on the frivolous side of the line (other claims do too).”
Lindell will have to pay some of the fees Smartmatic incurred fighting his claims.
Dominion sued Lindell over claims on a Newsmax show that “the biggest fraud is the Dominion machines,” as he complained about Donald Trump’s loss to Joe Biden. He said Dominion machines were “built to cheat” and “steal elections.”
Lindell and MyPillow lost their motion to dismiss Dominion’s case while filing counter-claims against it. They said Dominion “seeks to intimidate those who might dare to come forward with evidence of election fraud.”
Lindell and MyPillow made counter-claims for defamation, unlawful retaliation, constitutional violations and violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
A third-party complaint against Smartmatic and Hamilton Place, a public relations firm, said the firm threatened him with financial ruin while claiming Smartmatic weaponized the court system. The company has filed its own defamation case against him.
Judge Nichols threw out all of Lindell’s claims against the three companies.
“Lindell’s complaint points to no event, no conversation, no document – really, nothing at all – to suggest that Dominion, Smartmatic or Hamilton Place reached any sort of ‘agreement,’” he wrote.
“At best, Lindell alleges that Dominion and Smartmatic engaged in ‘parallel conduct.’ But parallel conduct, without more, does not adequately allege a conspiratorial agreement.”