Judge rules 'MyPillow Guy' Mike Lindell defamed Smartmatic with false
claims on voting machines
[September 27, 2025]
By STEVE KARNOWSKI
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — MyPillow founder Mike Lindell defamed the election
technology company Smartmatic with false statements that its voting
machines helped rig the 2020 presidential election, a federal judge in
Minnesota ruled Friday.
But U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Bryan deferred until future proceedings
the question of whether Lindell — one of the country’s most prominent
propagators of false claims that the 2020 election was a fraud — acted
with the “actual malice” that Smartmatic still needs to prove to collect
any damages.
The judge said there are “genuine fact disputes” as to whether Lindell's
statements were made “with knowledge that they were false or made with
reckless disregard to their falsity.” He noted that the defense says
Lindell has an “unwavering belief” that his statements were truthful.
The statements cited by the judge arose from Lindell's criticism of the
results of the 2020 election in California's Los Angeles County, which
Democratic candidate Joe Biden carried with 71% of the vote over
President Donald Trump and helped Biden secure the state's 55 electoral
votes.
The county used Smartmatic's computerized touchscreen ballot-marking
devices and was the company's only customer for the 2020 election.
Lindell alleged the machines were rigged to change Trump votes to Biden
votes.
The judge ruled there were 51 specific times when Lindell falsely
claimed — in documentaries he produced and through various media and
personal appearances — that Smartmatic interfered with the results.
“The Court concludes that, based on the record presented, no reasonable
trier of fact could find that any of the statements at issue are true,”
Bryan wrote.
Smartmatic attorney Erik Connolly said they will be seeking “nine-figure
damages” from Lindell and MyPillow for “spreading lies” about the
company.
“Smartmatic did not and could not have rigged the 2020 election,”
Connolly said in a statement. “It was impossible, and everything that
Mr. Lindell said about Smartmatic was false.”
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Mike Lindell walks into federal district court for a defamation
trial, June 5, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey, File)
 Smartmatic has been on a winning
streak, having reached settlements last year with two conservative
news outlets, including Newsmax and One America News Network. The
Florida-based company also still has an active case against Fox
News.
Lindell also has made similar claims against Dominion Voting
Systems. He lost a case involving the Denver-based company in June
when a jury ruled that he defamed a former Dominion employee by
accusing him of treason. The jury awarded $2.3 million in damages.
Lindell told The Associated Press shortly after the Smartmatic
ruling was filed Friday that he hadn't seen it, but that it was “the
most bizarre thing I've ever heard.”
Lindell went on to call Smartmatic “one of the most corrupt
companies in the world,” and he vowed to keep fighting until its
voting machines are “melted down and turned into prison bars.” He
said he'll take his crusade to eliminate voting machines in favor of
paper ballots all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if he has to.
Lindell, known as the “MyPillow” guy for his bedding company, also
said he recently reestablished residence in Minnesota as a step
toward a likely run for governor against incumbent Democratic Gov.
Tim Walz. While MyPillow is based in the Minneapolis suburbs,
Lindell had been living until recently in Texas.
Lindell and MyPillow have faced a number of legal and financial
setbacks in recent years, but he won a victory in July when a
federal appeals court ruled he didn’t have to pay a $5 million
arbitration award to a software engineer who disputed data that
Lindell claimed proved China interfered in the 2020 election. The
court said the arbitration panel overstepped its authority.
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