MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell is using his trial to sell pillows and raise money
MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell is using his defamation trial over statements he made about a former Dominion Voting Systems official to boost sales of his pillows, linens and other products, as well as to raise money for his legal defense.
On June 4, Lindell wrote on social media that "My employee-owned company and I are in jury trial NOW and need your support!" He included a link to a landing page on his company's website that includes the line, "Use promo code JURY" to receive a "free Multi-Use MyPillow 2.0" with any purchase.
The website also includes a link to "Mike Lindell Legal Defense Fund," which asks for donations of between $10 to $1,000. The fundraising effort notes that Lindell has spent "nearly all his resources ... to exposing corruption in our election systems."
MyPillow didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The sales and fundraising efforts come after Lindell told CBS MoneyWatch in 2023 that he had $10,000 to his name after spending millions of his own funds on proving his election theories. The businessman also said he had lost about $7 million after Walmart and other big-box stores dropped his line of bedding.
"I urgently need your financial support to cover the massive expenses" of the trial, Lindell said in a video posted to the legal defense site.
On Monday, Lindell took the stand in the defamation trial, which is being held at a federal courthouse in Denver and expected to continue this week. He denied making any statements he knew to be false about Eric Coomer, the former Dominion executive who sued Lindell in 2022 over his statements.
In his Monday testimony, Lindell also reiterated his previous claims that Coomer was "part of the biggest crime this world has ever seen," while he painted himself as the victim of "lawfare," or when people are sued to scare them into silence.
Asked by his attorney what he wants out of the trial, Coomer said he would like an apology, compensation and "a chance of rehabilitating my public image."
Lindell's efforts to defend his election theories "cost my company everything," the MyPillow CEO told the jury. "Was I supposed to just walk away? No, I'm willing to borrow everything and lose it all to save our country."
Several conservative news organizations, including Fox News, Newsmax and One America News, have settled defamation lawsuits from voting machine companies over allegations that they promoted falsehoods about the 2020 presidential election. Fox News agreed to pay almost $800 million in its settlement with Dominion.
In April, a judge ruled that Newsmax made defamatory statements about Dominion Voting related to the news channel's claims the voting machine company had rigged votes in the 2020 presidential election, and said the case could proceed to trial, according to the New York Times. In 2021, Newsmax also apologized to Coomer for airing false allegations against him.
MyPillow's business
In 2023, MyPillow auctioned off more than 700 pieces of company equipment, ranging from forklifts to office desks and cubicles, after it lost millions in revenue when big retailers halted sales of its products. Lindell told CBS at the time that he blamed "cancel culture" for the revenue slump.
During his testimony, Lindell noted that he once had a net worth of $60 million, but is now millions of dollars in debt, prompting him to turn to crowdfunding to raise money for his legal costs. He also noted that MyPillow had liquidated inventory "because we had no money left."
Lindell added that his fundraising efforts have generated about $362,000 so far.
Lindell's debunked election theories have caused him additional financial problems. In 2021, he had offered to pay $5 million to anyone who could prove computer data he had acquired wasn't, in fact, 2020 election data.
But after a computer expert proved the data was bogus, Lindell refused to honor the challenge, leading to an arbitration panel ordering him to pay up the $5 million.
—CBS News associate producer Cesareo Sifuentes-Roacho contributed to this report.
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