Dominion files defamation suit against MyPillow CEO
Dominion Voting Systems sued MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, alleging $1.2 billion in damages to its brand for defamatory comments Lindell made about the firm.
The complaint accuses Lindell of perpetuating a “Big Lie” about Dominion’s role in the 2020 presidential election.
Lindell “knowingly lied about Dominion to sell more pillows to people who continued tuning in to hear what they wanted to hear about the election,” the complaint alleges.
After Dominion indicated it might sue him, Lindell amplified his allegations against the company.
“Instead of retracting his lies, Lindell – a multimillionaire with a nearly unlimited ability to broadcast his preferred messages on conservative media – whined that he was being ‘censored’ and ‘attacked’ and produced a ‘docu-movie’ featuring shady characters and fake documents sourced from dark corners of the internet,” the complaint reads.
Conspiracy theories about Dominion and other election security firms circulated widely in the aftermath of the 2020 election. Dominion joins voting systems firm Smartmatic, which filed a $2.7 billion lawsuit against Fox News, in taking legal action against major right-wing media personalities accused of spreading misinformation about the 2020 election. This month, Fox News Media filed a motion to dismiss the suit, arguing it looks to “stifle debate and chill vital First Amendment activities.”
In January, Dominion Voting Systems filed a lawsuit against attorney Sidney Powell and Donald Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani over claims they made about the company.
Powell’s conspiracy theory variously implicated Dominion, deceased Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, the CIA and Chinese communists in a plot to rig the election against Trump. Federal and state judges repeatedly rejected, sometimes derisively, her efforts to prove her assertions in court.
A 107-page lawsuit alleges that Giuliani made more than 50 statements disparaging the company’s equipment in speeches, on Twitter and podcasts.
Giuliani said the lawsuit will allow him to investigate the company’s history, finances and practices. He threatened a countersuit alleging violation of his constitutional right to free speech.