Lawyers: Cash-strapped election denier ‘MyPillow Guy’ Lindell can’t pay legal bills

MINNEAPOLIS– Lawyers who defended MyPillow CEO and election denier Mike Lindell against defamation lawsuits from voting machine companies are asking the court for permission to resign, saying he owes them millions of dollars unspecified and that he cannot pay the millions more he will owe in 2017. upcoming legal costs.

Lindell confirmed in an interview with The Associated Press on Friday that he was out of money and said he understood his lawyers were people who need to make a living.

Attorney Andrew Parker wrote in papers filed Thursday in federal court that his firm and a second firm representing MyPillow in lawsuits filed by Smartmatic and Dominion Voting Systems could not afford what it would cost to represent Lindell and MyPillow during the remainder of the litigation. Continuing to defend it would expose companies “to serious financial risks,” he wrote.

It’s the latest in a series of legal and financial setbacks for Lindell, who spread former President Donald Trump’s lies that the 2020 election was stolen from him, in part by rigged voting machine systems. Several big-box retailers, including Walmart, have discontinued its products.

“MyPillow has been decimated. … We lost hundreds of millions of dollars,” Lindell said, adding that the other main assets he has left are his house and his van. He blamed Dominion, Smartmatic and the news media, including conservative outlets Fox News and Newsmax.

“You’re all doing this because you want me to shut up about the security of our elections,” Lindell said defiantly. “You are all the same.”

But he vowed to keep fighting and keep MyPillow alive. He said he has no other debts and has no plans to file for bankruptcy for himself or MyPillow.

In a rambling video posted Thursday evening on his website FrankSpeech, he portrayed himself as a victim of “cancel culture” and said he wasn’t done fighting.

“I will never stop trying to secure elections in this country,” Lindell said.

Parker filed resignation requests in federal court in Minnesota, where Smartmatic filed a defamation suit seeking more than $1 billion, and in Washington, D.C., where Lindell is a defendant in a similar $1.3 billion suit of dollars brought by Dominion Voting Systems which 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.

Parker’s firm also requested permission to stop defending Lindell, MyPillow and FrankSpeech in a defamation lawsuit filed in federal court in Colorado by Eric Coomer, former director of product strategy and security at Dominion, based in Denver.

In July, Lindell admitted to the Minneapolis Star Tribune that his company was auctioning equipment and subletting some of its manufacturing space in Minnesota after several major retailers and some home shopping networks stopped carrying MyPillow products. due to negative publicity. He said the equipment was no longer needed as MyPillow consolidated its operations and focused on 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 said proved China’s interference in 2020 US elections and swung the outcome to President Joe Biden. Lindell had launched his “Prove Mike Wrong Challenge” as part of the “Cyber ​​Symposium” he organized in South Dakota in 2021 to explore his theories further.

Parker wrote in his filings that Lindell and MyPillow had consistently paid his company in full and on time through the end of 2022. But he said payments have slowed this year while litigation fees and costs “have significantly increase “. By May, payments were slowing to over 60 days and were not covering all of the bills. Lindell and MyPillow made no payments for the company’s July and August invoices, he wrote, although they made relatively small payments that were only a fraction of the total owed .

The lawyer said his firm, Parker Daniels Kibort, or PDK, warned Lindell and MyPillow in August and September that he would have to step down if the bills weren’t paid.

He said Lindell and MyPillow understand his firm’s position, do not oppose it and are in the process of finding new lawyers. No trial dates are scheduled in the Smartmatic or Dominion cases.

Lindell, known as MyPillow Guy, asked viewers of his web show who wanted to help him to call and purchase his pillows, towels and other products.