Mike Lindell's federal countersuits against a voting machine company are being moved to the Washington, D.C.-based federal court where the MyPillow CEO and his Chaska-based company face $1.3 billion in defamation claims.
U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz on Wednesday ordered the two lawsuits filed by Lindell and MyPillow against Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic transferred to the District of Columbia, where a judge recently ruled that the defamation suit against Lindell over his claims that those companies helped steal the 2020 election can continue.
At a hearing conducted last week via teleconference in Minnesota, Schiltz described the "tremendous overlap" between the cases in Minnesota and D.C. Attorneys for Lindell and MyPillow said they preferred to continue litigating in Minnesota but would not stand in the way of a transfer.
"Your lawsuit here is basically saying that lawsuit out in D.C. is illegal," Schiltz said. "I understand you're alleging it is part of a bigger conspiracy … but the lawsuit in D.C. is the centerpiece of your lawsuit here, and it kind of seems strange that we would take discovery and litigate whether the D.C. lawsuit is a good lawsuit here while you're out in D.C. taking discovery and litigating whether the D.C. lawsuit is a good lawsuit out there."
Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols in the District of Columbia denied Lindell and his company's motions to dismiss the original $1.3 billion defamation case filed against them.
The judge also said in a written decision that Dominion Voting Systems' lawsuits against two other allies of former President Donald Trump — Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani — can proceed.
The Lindell and MyPillow countersuits allege that the voting machine company "weaponized the litigation process" and harmed his company through its lawsuits. Lindell continues to claim that the company's voting machines were used to steal the election from Trump.
The federal intelligence and law enforcement communities, as well as elections officials nationwide, have concluded there was no widespread election fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
Stephen Montemayor • 612-673-1755
Twitter: @smontemayor
