DENVER — The $1.3 billion lawsuit against Minnesota’s MyPillow executive Mike Lindell for libels over the 2020 presidential election has been withdrawn. Lindell, now a candidate for Minnesota governor, called the decision a “win!” The circumstances of the withdrawal, however, were cloudy. Critical details of the deal were not announced. The now-dismissed suit had been filed against Lindell in 2021 for his false charges that voting machines manufactured by Dominion Voting Systems were rigged to throw the 2020 election against Donald Trump. Dominion sued not only Lindell but also right-wing media outlets that promulgated the same falsities. Unable to substantiate the falsities, Fox News paid Dominion $787 million. Newsmax paid $67 million. Lindell, however, had nothing to lose and refused to settle. His MyPillow company had collapsed. He was broke. He continued espousing his conspiracy theories. Since then these events have occurred.
> Trump was elected president in 2024.
> Trump has maintained his false narrative that the 2020 election was rigged and has sought to avenge the loss in every forum available.
> Among Trump’s targets continued to be Dominion, whose voting machines had been used in 27 states.
> Dominion was purchased last September by Trump-friendly Scott Leiendecker, who renamed it Liberty Vote.
Concerns arose immediaately about Leiendecker’s purchase. As a Republican election official in St. Louis, he had an insider’s knowledge of election mechanics and dynamics. The question: Was he a partisan figure who could control voting machines used nationwide? Put bluntly: Was he a Trump lackey. Leiendecker didn’t allay the concerns by aligning Liberty Vote with Trump’s 2025 executive order for sweeping election reforms to favor Republicans. At the same time Leiendecker was making statements like: “Liberty Vote signals a new chapter for American elections — one where trust is rebuilt from the ground up.” Was he saying that Dominion had indeed done bad? If so, the suggestion was that he had knowledge of a capacity for voting equipment to create false tallies.
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Leiendecker. A Republican activist who owns Dominion Voting Systems under a new corporate name.