Defamation trial starts in Denver over 2020 election claims, pitting ex-Dominion executive against MyPillow CEO
The defamation trial against MyPillow CEO and prominent poll denier Mike Lindell began in Denver Monday with the selection of a jury to hear a affair over whether Lindell made false charges of criminal conduct on a scale unprecedented in American history That is how his conduct is characterized in a lawsuit brought by Eric Coomer a Colorado resident and former director of product strategy and defense for Dominion Voting Systems Coomer alleges that Lindell and his companies have gone out of their way to target Coomer in their pursuit of the repeatedly debunked conspiracy theory that the presidential electoral contest was stolen from President Donald Trump when he lost to Joe Biden Coomer filed his lawsuit in Denver District Court in April and it was later transferred to federal court The suit says Coomer was defamed by Lindell and suffered severe emotional and physical distress as a impact The trial is set to last two weeks with opening arguments set for Tuesday morning U S District Court Judge Nina Wang is overseeing the occurrence Monday was largely relegated to jury selection as attorneys for each side sought to suss out bias by prospective jurors Questions included where jurors get their news which social media platforms they use if they have negative feelings about Trump or his Make America Great Again movement and their opinions of the Jan riot at the U S Capitol and of Lindell s company MyPillow Following Trump s voting process loss Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems a voting machine company that supplies equipment to a multitude of counties became central to a conspiracy theory positing that the polling was rigged against Trump Dominion as a company has filed multiple lawsuits over claims that it was involved in poll rigging It settled one lawsuit against Fox News for nearly million The conspiracists also targeted Coomer specifically after Colorado podcaster Joe Oltmann named Eric the Dominion guy on his plan Lindell a Trump ally and media figure then ran with the claims on his platforms according to Coomer s lawsuit Coomer declared he can no longer work in the ballot industry after more than years because of unwarranted distrust inspired by Defendants lies according to the lawsuit Coomer alleges he has faced frequent credible death threats and the burden of being made the face of an imagined criminal conspiracy of unprecedented scope in American history Lindell has claimed without evidence that Dr Coomer committed treason and that he should turn himself into the functionaries Coomer s complaint against Lindell states Ahead of the trial s start Lindell spoke to supporters and the media on Monday morning He argued that the lawsuit was frivolous and that he had never even heard of Coomer but he also didn t step back from his declares about electoral contest fraud Related Articles Trump asks the Supreme Court to clear the way for federal downsizing plans Republican budget bill would strike blow to clean capacity efforts in Colorado Trump s big beautiful tax bill risks food assistance for tens of thousands of Coloradans think tanks estimate New Americans are winning elections in Colorado Other immigrants want to follow suit The Trump administration is pushing therapy for transgender youth What does that look like On the courthouse approaches ahead of jury selection he announced electronic voting machines should be melted down and turned into prison bars As long as the outcome whatever it is leads to getting to paper ballots hand-counted like other countries that banned electronic voting machines if we can get there I would sacrifice everything And I have Lindell disclosed This is the end goal He also cast the trial as a biblical fight between good and evil His news conference ended with about two dozen supporters praying over him Several carried signs calling to Free Tina Peters the former Mesa County Clerk who s serving time in prison for convictions related to providing unauthorized access to voting process machines following the electoral contest and giving a measure badge to a man associated with Lindell Coomer is asking for a retraction of all defamatory remarks made by Lindell and monetary damages Stay up-to-date with Colorado Politics by signing up for our weekly newsletter The Spot
