MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A federal judge in Minnesota ruled Friday that MyPillow founder Mike Lindell defamed election technology company Smartmatic by making false claims that its voting machines rigged the 2020 presidential election.
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Bryan, however, deferred ruling on whether Lindell acted with “actual malice”—meaning he knowingly made false statements or acted with reckless disregard for the truth—a key factor Smartmatic must prove to collect damages.
The judge noted “genuine fact disputes” regarding Lindell’s intent, pointing out that Lindell maintains an “unwavering belief” in the truthfulness of his claims.
The false statements stem from Lindell’s criticism of the 2020 election results in Los Angeles County, California, where Democratic candidate Joe Biden won 71% of the vote. The county was the only Smartmatic customer in that election and used the company’s touchscreen ballot-marking devices. Lindell alleged that these machines were rigged to switch votes from Trump to Biden.
Judge Bryan found 51 instances where Lindell, through documentaries and media appearances, falsely claimed Smartmatic interfered with election results. “No reasonable trier of fact could find that any of the statements at issue are true,” the judge wrote.
Smartmatic attorney Erik Connolly said the company plans to seek nine-figure damages for the “lies” spread by Lindell and MyPillow. “Smartmatic did not and could not have rigged the 2020 election,” Connolly said. “Everything Mr. Lindell said about Smartmatic was false.”
Smartmatic has recently won settlements with conservative news outlets, including Newsmax and One America News Network, and currently has an active lawsuit against Fox News.
Lindell has made similar false claims against Dominion Voting Systems and lost a defamation case in June, in which a jury awarded $2.3 million in damages to a former Dominion employee whom Lindell accused of treason.
After the ruling, Lindell called it “the most bizarre thing I’ve ever heard” and described Smartmatic as “one of the most corrupt companies in the world.” He vowed to continue fighting until voting machines are eliminated in favor of paper ballots, even if it means taking the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Lindell, best known as the “MyPillow guy,” recently moved back to Minnesota, possibly preparing to challenge incumbent Democratic Governor Tim Walz in an upcoming election. While MyPillow is based in the Minneapolis suburbs, Lindell had been living in Texas until recently.
Despite legal and financial challenges, Lindell won a July appeal ruling that he did not have to pay a $5 million arbitration award to a software engineer who disputed data Lindell claimed showed China interfered in the 2020 election. The court ruled the arbitration panel overstepped its authority. (won a victory in July)
Read full article here: MSN
