The Smartmatic voting machine company has filed a scathing defamation lawsuit against Donald Trump ally and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, alleging he concocted lies about a rigged presidential election to sell his products.
“Crazy like a fox. Mike Lindell knows exactly what he is doing, and it is dangerous,” Smartmatic said in its lawsuit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Minnesota.
The suit, which also names the MyPillow company as a defendant, also alleges deceptive trade practices and seeks unspecified monetary damages. In addition, the suit demands that Lindell retract his statements that Smartmatic switched votes from then-President Trump to Democratic rival Joe Biden.
“He knows voting machines did not switch votes from former President Trump to now President Biden,” the lawsuit states. But “facts do not matter to Mr. Lindell,” it adds.
It accuses him of taking advantage of a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to make money by pushing the vote fraud claims.
“Mr. Lindell intentionally stoked the fires of xenophobia and party-divide for the noble purpose of selling his pillows,” says the suit, noting that the MyPillow name is inevitably placed “conveniently” and “strategically” during Lindell’s media appearances.
Lindell told Business Insider that he welcomed the suit because Smartmatic is “guilty” of vote manipulation and “they’re all going to prison.” (He also said earlier this month that he has the evidence to put at least 300 million Americans ― somehow linked to what he claims is a fraudulent election ― “in prison for life.” Only 155 million Americans voted for president in the 2020 election.)
He said it was “kind of hilarious” the suit argues his attacks have been profitable because, he claims, he lost more than $80 million after “big-box stores, retailers and shopping channels” dropped him amid his controversial campaign.
Lindell peppered a four-day symposium on the election late last year with countless plugs for his pillows.
There is no evidence of any notable fraud involving Smartmatic’s machines, which were used in Los Angeles County in the 2020 election.
Dominion Vote Systems also sued Lindell last year for $1.3 billion in damages for the “enormous harm” it says Lindell created with his “viral disinformation campaign” about the presidential election.
That suit also claimed Lindell was aware his company “could derive ... financial benefits from making ... false statements” accusing Dominion of “fraud, election rigging and conspiracy, which are serious crimes.”