Attorneys who’ve been defending MyPillow chief executive and election denier Mike Lindell against defamation lawsuits by voting machine firms are searching for court permission to quit, saying he owes them unspecified tens of millions of dollars and might’t pay the tens of millions more that he’ll owe in legal expenses going forward.
Lindell confirmed in an interview with The Associated Press on Friday that he’s out of cash and said he understands his lawyers are individuals who must make a living.
Attorney Andrew Parker wrote in documents filed in federal court on Thursday that his firm and a second firm representing MyPillow in lawsuits by Smartmatic and Dominion Voting Systems can’t afford what it will cost to represent Lindell and MyPillow through the remainder of the litigation. Continuing to defend him would put the firms “in serious financial risk,” he wrote.
It’s the most recent in a string of legal and financial setbacks for Lindell, who propagates former President Donald Trump’s lies that the 2020 election was stolen from him, partially by rigged voting machine systems. Several big-box retailers, including Walmart, have discontinued his products.
“MyPillow’s been decimated. … We’ve lost lots of of tens of millions of dollars,” Lindell said, adding that the opposite important assets he has left are his home and pickup truck. He blamed Dominion, Smartmatic and the news media, including the conservative outlets Fox News and Newsmax.
Continuing to defend him would put the firms “in serious financial risk,” Attorney Andrew Parker wrote.AP
“You’re all doing it because you would like me to shut up about security of our elections,” a defiant Lindell said. “You’re all the identical.”
But he vowed to maintain fighting and to maintain MyPillow going. He said he doesn’t have some other debts and has no plans to file for bankruptcy for himself or MyPillow.
In a rambling video posted on his FrankSpeech website Thursday night, he depicted himself as a victim of “cancel culture” and said he wasn’t done fighting.
“I’m never going to stop attempting to secure elections for this country ever,” Lindell said.
Parker filed the requests to quit in federal court in Minnesota, where Smartmatic filed a defamation lawsuit searching for over $1 billion, and in Washington, DC, where Lindell is a defendant in the same $1.3 billion lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems that also targets Trump allies Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell. Dominion won a nearly $800 million settlement from Fox News in April. Giuliani is being sued by a former lawyer over allegedly unpaid legal bills.
Lindell said his company had lost over $100 million after big-box retailers dropped his products.
Parker’s firm also moved for permission to stop defending Lindell, MyPillow and FrankSpeech from a defamation lawsuit filed in federal court in Colorado by Eric Coomer, former director of product strategy and security for Denver-based Dominion.
In July, Lindell acknowledged to the Star Tribune of Minneapolis that his company was auctioning off equipment and subleasing a few of its manufacturing space in Minnesota after several major retailers including WalMart and a few TV shopping networks stopped carrying MyPillow products amid the negative publicity. He said the equipment was not needed as MyPillow consolidated its operations and turned its focus to direct sales.
In April, an arbitration panel ordered Lindell to pay $5 million to a software engineer for breach of contract in a dispute over data that Lindell claimed proves China interfered within the US 2020 elections and tipped the final result to President Joe Biden. Lindell had launched his “Prove Mike Improper Challenge,” as a part of the “Cyber Symposium” he staged in South Dakota in 2021 to further his theories.
Lindell speaks as former President Donald Trump listens during a briefing concerning the coronavirus in 2020.AP
Parker wrote in his filings that Lindell and MyPillow had usually paid his firm in full and on time through the tip of 2022. But he said the payments slowed this yr while the litigation fees and costs “dramatically increased.” By May, the payments slowed to greater than 60 days and didn’t cover the total bills. Lindell and MyPillow made no payments for the firm’s July and August bills, he wrote, though they did make some relatively small payments that were only a fraction of the full owed.
The attorney said his firm, Parker Daniels Kibort, or PDK, warned Lindell and MyPillow in August and September that it will must withdraw if the bills weren’t paid.
He said Lindell and MyPillow understand his firm’s position, don’t object, and are within the strategy of finding latest lawyers. No trial date is scheduled in either the Smartmatic or Dominion cases.
Ever the pitchman, Lindell, generally known as the MyPillow Guy, asked viewers of his webcast who desired to help to call in and buy his pillows, towels and other products.
