Judge rules Mike Lindell defamed voting machine company; $1.5 billion in damages up to jury

Brooks Johnson, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Sep 27, 2025

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MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota federal judge has found Mike Lindell defamed a voting machine company with his attacks on the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, and a jury now must decide whether to award the $1.5 billion in damages Smartmatic is seeking.

Smartmatic sued the outspoken founder of Minnesota-based MyPillow in 2022 amid Lindell’s repeated assertion that the company’s machines helped “steal” the election for Democrat Joe Biden.

Lindell is moving closer to a run for Minnesota governor, saying he has reestablished residency in the state after recently living in Texas.

“The court presumes that Smartmatic is entitled to damages for the reputational harm it has suffered,” U.S. District Judge Jeffrey M. Bryan said in Friday’s ruling granting summary judgment to the company.

“There is no genuine dispute as to whether these statements are defamatory per se. No reasonable juror could conclude that any of the statements [were] true.”

Bryan also kept financially embattled MyPillow on the hook for aiding “Lindell’s tortious conduct.”

Erik Connolly, lead attorney for Smartmatic, said in a statement that the company is “pleased with the court’s decision to hold Mike Lindell and MyPillow responsible for spreading lies about Smartmatic.”

“With this victory in hand, we are eager to put on the rest of our case so we can recover nine-figure damages from Mr. Lindell and MyPillow,” Connolly said.

Lindell could not immediately be reached Saturday morning but told the Associated Press on Friday that the ruling was “the most bizarre thing I’ve ever heard.”

He vowed to continue his crusade against electronic voting machines.

In 2024, Florida-based Smartmatic reached a $40 million settlement with the right-wing network Newsmax and an undisclosed settlement with One America News Network.

Lindell has said he will not agree to a settlement with the voting machine company.

Whether a defendant intentionally meant to harm someone with speech they knew was false, a legal standard called malice, will be left to the jury, as will the actual damages award.

Lindell has maintained he believed what he was saying.

No date has been set for a trial.

In June, Lindell was found liable for defamation and ordered to pay $2.3 million in damages in a suit brought by a former employee of another voting machine company, Dominion Voting Systems.

Dominion also has a pending defamation case against Lindell.