Voting company Smartmatic filed a defamation lawsuit against MyPillow founder and CEO Mike Lindell on Tuesday, alleging that the diehard Trump supporter “intentionally stoked the fires of xenophobia and party-divide for the noble purpose of selling his pillows.”
The company also accused Lindell of deceptive trade practices. Dominion Voting Inc. filed a similar suit against Lindell last year.
Lindell has alleged – without credible evidence – that Smartmatic machines used in the 2020 presidential election intentionally switched votes from Donald Trump to Joe Biden.
“He knows voting machines did not switch votes from former President Trump to now-President Biden. These facts do not matter to Mr. Lindell” reads Smartmatic’s lawsuit. “He knows he can sell a preconceived story about voting machines stealing democracy by stealing votes from a president who is incredibly popular with millions of Americans. And, of course, Mr. Lindell — ‘the MyPillow Guy’ — knows he needs to sell pillows to keep and increase his fortune.”
The lawsuit characterizes Lindell as “crazy like a fox.”
“Lindell could not change the outcome of the election,” the lawsuit states. “He could, however, gain a bigger audience for his book and gain more purchasers for his MyPillow products.”
“Mike Lindell knows exactly what he is doing, and it is dangerous,” the suit continues. “The country will sleep better at night knowing the judicial system holds people like Mr. Lindell accountable for spreading disinformation that deceives and harms others.”
Smartmatic is seeking unspecified monetary damages. The suit contends that the company’s valuation plummeted since it’s been targeted by pro-Trump conspiracy theorists, from “in excess of $3.0 billion” before the 2020 election to less than $1 billion now.
Forbes provides key background on the legal woes of other 2020 election conspiracy theorists:
Smartmatic’s lawsuit against Lindell and MyPillow follows separate litigation the company has already brought against attorneys Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani, Fox News and far-right news networks Newsmax and One America News Network (OANN). Dominion, whose machines have been the primary focus of the far-right conspiracy theories, sued Lindell and MyPillow in February, similarly alleging the CEO “sells the lie” about Dominion “because the lie sells pillows.” The company has also filed suit against Powell, Giuliani, Fox News, former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne, Newsmax, OANN and several of its anchors. That litigation is all still pending, and Lindell, Powell and Giuliani’s motions to dismiss the lawsuits against them failed in August.