Eric Coomer, who worked at Dominion, sued Mike Lindell for spreading conspiracy theories that upended his life
MyPillow CEO, Mike Lindell, has been ordered to pay $2.3m to a former employee of a voting machine company who sued him for defamation, adding to the legal woes the prominent election denier faces.
A Colorado jury decided the case and amount after Eric Coomer, who formerly worked in security and voting technology strategy for the voting machine company Dominion, filed a lawsuit against Lindell and a host of others who spread conspiracy theories that upended his life. Coomer’s attorneys had originally requested $62.7m.
Lindell testified in the case, saying he didn’t make any knowingly false comments about Coomer. He said Coomer’s claims about him led to him being unable to go on Newsmax shows – the rightwing outlet was also sued by Coomer and settled. Lindell also told one of Coomer’s lawyers that he was “part of the biggest coverup of the biggest crime the world has ever seen,” according to the Associated Press. “I believe what you did to me and MyPillow was criminal,” he said to the lawyer.
The lawsuit came after rumors spread about Coomer online following the 2020 election, which Donald Trump lost. A rightwing podcaster in Colorado, Joe Oltmann, claimed a man who identified himself as “Eric the Dominion guy” had been on an “antifa” call before the election where he said: “Don’t worry about the election, Trump is not gonna win. I made fucking sure of that.” Oltmann has not provided any evidence of the call. Oltmann, who also faces a lawsuit from Coomer, testified in the case and continued to say Coomer was on the supposed call, which he insisted did actually happen.
