MyPillow boss Mike Lindell loses $2.3m defamation case

Mike Lindell, the chief executive of MyPillow and staunch supporter of Donald Trump, has lost a defamation case brought by a former employee of a voting equipment company.

A jury in Denver, Colorado, ordered Mr Lindell to pay $2.3m (£1.7m) to Eric Coomer, a former security and product strategy director at Dominion Voting Systems.

Lindell falsely accused Mr Coomer of helping to rig the 2020 vote, which was won by Joe Biden. During the two-week trial, Lindell stuck by baseless claims that the election was stolen from Donald Trump.

Dominion itself has filed cases against several Trump allies who it accuses of spreading lies about the company's voting machines.

Mr Coomer filed federal lawsuits in 2022 against Mr Lindell and two of his companies, My Pillow, Inc and Lindell TV, saying their actions had caused his reputation to be "irreparably tarnished".

He "now endures frequent credible death threats and the burden of being made the face of an imagined criminal conspiracy of unprecedented scope in American history", his lawsuit said.

A lawyer for Mr Coomer told the Colorado Sun: "We're thrilled with the verdict."

"In the sense that [Coomer has] been through a lot and he's still going to be looking over his shoulder," added the attorney, Charles Cain.

"Generally, what this verdict says is… individuals who are singled out can get vindication in the courthouse.

"And hopefully this serves as deterrence for individuals working on our elections from being targeted."

Outside court, Lindell praised the jury for not finding his company, Lindell TV, liable for defamation.

"This is a huge victory for our country," he said in a live broadcast, according to the Sun.

"The big win is: you cannot attack USA companies and expect it's going to work."

He also vowed to appeal against the verdict and said he was in financial debt.

In 2021, several major US shops stopped carrying Mr Lindell's products as he began endorsing election conspiracies.

Trump himself has often falsely claimed the 2020 election was "rigged" by mass voter fraud.

More recently, Mr Lindell has used his legal troubles in an effort to sell his products.

His company's website directed shoppers to "use promo code JURY" to receive a "free Multi-Use MyPillow 2.0" and included a link to donate to his "legal defense fund".

Dominion sued Fox News for $1.6bn (£1.2bn) accusing the network of spreading lies about the election. Fox settled out of court for $787.5m.