WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court says it won’t intervene in a lawsuit in which Dominion Voting Systems accused MyPillow chief executive Mike Lindell of defamation for falsely accusing the company of rigging the 2020 presidential election against former President Donald Trump.
Lindell is part of a case in which Dominion also accused Trump allies Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani of defamation for falsely claiming that the election was “stolen.” The Denver, Colorado-based Dominion has sought $1.3 billion in damages from the trio.
A lower court judge in August of last year declined to dismiss the case and instead said it could go forward. Lindell had appealed that determination, but a federal appeals court said his appeal was premature. The Supreme Court declined to take up that issue.
WASHINGTON, Oct 3 (Reuters) – Mike Lindell, a prominent ally of former President Donald Trump, must face a $1.3 billion lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems Inc accusing him of defamation for pushing false claims that its voting machines rigged the 2020 presidential election, with the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turning away his appeal.
The justices rejected a bid by Lindell and his company My Pillow Inc to immediately appeal a federal judge’s refusal to toss the lawsuit. A lower court also snubbed his effort to quickly review the case, allowing the litigation to proceed.
U.S. Judge Carl Nichols in August 2021 rejected Lindell’s request to dismiss the case, finding that Dominion “adequately alleged that Lindell made his claims knowing that they were false or with reckless disregard for the truth.” Nichols added, “As a preliminary matter, a reasonable juror could conclude that the existence of a vast international conspiracy that is ignored by the government but proven by a spreadsheet on an internet blog is so inherently improbable that only a reckless man would believe it.”
