Dominion Voting Systems has filed a $1.3 billion lawsuit against MyPillow Inc. and its CEO Mike Lindell, accusing one of former President Donald Trump’s top supporters of defaming the company with accusations it had rigged the 2020 election for Democrat Joe Biden.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the lawsuit was filed Monday morning in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
The lawsuit is the latest in a series of legal actions undertaken by Dominion after November’s presidential election, which was marred by unsubstantiated allegations of massive voter fraud by Trump and misconduct from Trump and his supporters. Last month, Dominion filed a defamation suit — also for $1.3 billion — against Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s lawyer who played a key role in Trump’s efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 election.
That suit, filed in the Federal District Court in Washington, accuses the former New York City mayor of carrying out “a viral disinformation campaign about Dominion” made up of “demonstrably false” allegations, in part to enrich himself through legal fees and his podcast.
Trump’s allies had contended Dominion’s voting machines — which were also used in states during Trump’s victory in the 2016 election, had been tested by government agencies and were used in states Trump carried in 2020 — were involved in a rigged election, partly as a result of ties to the late Hugo Chavez, the late Venezuelan dictator.
The lawsuit also links Giuliani’s statements about Dominion to the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, noting he mentioned the company in his speech at a rally for Trump before the attack, as well as numerous times on social media as the Capitol was breached.
“Having been deceived by Giuliani and his allies into thinking that they were not criminals — but patriots ‘Defend(ing) the Republic’ from Dominion and its co-conspirators — they then bragged about their involvement in the crime on social media,” the suit states.
Dominion is a major manufacturer of voting machine equipment in the United States, second only to Election Systems & Software.
In its latest complaint, Dominion, according to The Wall Street Journal, cites a number of statements made by Lindell, including in media appearances, social media posts and a two-hour film claiming to prove widespread election fraud. Lindell said he helped produce the film, which he released online in early February.
The complaint alleges Lindell made false claims about the integrity of Dominion’s voting machines and that he knew no credible evidence supported his claims that the company had stolen the election from Trump.
Twitter has permanently banned Lindell’s account due to “repeated violations” of its civic integrity policy, the social media giant said last month.
