WASHINGTON – Pillow huckster Mike Lindell’s rocky path to the Governor’s Mansion in Minnesota took a side trip to a federal courtroom. Lindell was in court to ask a federal judge to throw out a $1.3 billion libel suit from the Dominion voting systems manufacturer for his persistent claims that the company rigged the 2020 election to defeat Donald Trump. The attorney for Lindell and his MyPillow company, Andrew Parker, argued that the Dominion lawsuit was a threat to free speech. Unless the Dominion suit is thrown out, the attorney said, “we’re going to become a society where opinions will be shut down.” Parker told the judge that Lindell’s claims against Dominion were all true. “He knows them to be true,” Parker said. “He will prove that they are true, whether it be in this courtroom or not. It should not be in this courtroom. It should be in the marketplace of ideas.” Judge Carl Nichols appeared skeptical as he heard from attorneys for Lindell and Trump attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell. Each is being sued by Dominion. The judge put this question to Powell’s attorney: “Is it your view that if someone makes patently false statements in a lawsuit and then repeats them to the press that the statements to the press are not actionable?” The attorney was indirect responding. The answer, he said, depends on a number of factors including whether the statement was made maliciously. Giuliani was not in court, having lost his law license earlier In the day in New York for a pattern of lying on Trump’s behalf. Giuliani’s attorneys had moved to throw out Dominion’s suit on procedural issues.
Lindell. MyPillow founder. Seeking GOP nomination for governor of Minnesota.
Powell. Trump advocate attorney.
Giuliani. Long-running Trump attorney.