Michael J. Lindell, the CEO, founder and face of the MyPillow bedding company, has filed another federal lawsuit against two companies that made voting systems used in the 2020 presidential election.
Lawyers representing Mr. Lindell, a close ally of former President Donald Trump, sued Dominion Voting Systems, Smartmatic and related entities Thursday in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The lawsuit, which alleges charges including racketeering, claims a supposed conspiracy between Dominion and Smartmatic has led to Mr. Lindell suffering damages in excess of $2 billion.
It alleges both of the companies “embarked on a concerted, collective enterprise to extort silence from their dissenters or bring financial ruin on any and all who persist in speaking their minds.”
The lawsuit is the latest of several to arise as a result of Mr. Lindell making claims about either voting systems company in the several months since Mr. Trump was voted out of the White House.
Mr. Lindell, who denies Mr. Trump lost the November election, has alleged the results of the race were rigged by hackers who breached voting systems used to cast ballots. There is no evidence of this.
Dominion first brought a defamation suit in February against both Mr. Lindell and MyPillow seeking over $1.3 billion in damages. Smartmatic has sued others who made similar claims but not Mr. Lindell.
MyPillow countersued Dominion in April. The latest complaint is brought on behalf of its CEO and does not list the company as a plaintiff.
“Lindell brings this lawsuit to put an end to Dominion’s and Smartmatic’s campaign of ’lawfare’ against those who criticize their electronic voting machines, or who question their role in the indisputably suspect conduct of the 2020 President Election,” his lawyers wrote in the latest suit.
Dominion did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Mr. Lindell cannot change the facts,” Smartmatic attorney J. Erik Connolly told The Washington Times. “The fact is that Smartmatic is one of the most dependable election technology companies in the world. It also played no role in the 2020 election outside of Los Angeles County. Any claim to the contrary is factually inaccurate, and any lawsuit claiming that Smartmatic did something wrong in connection with the 2020 US election is frivolous and will be dealt with as such.”
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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