MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell says he's out of money, can't pay lawyers in defamation case
Attorneys for MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell want to quit his defamation case due to not receiving any payment from Lindell or MyPillow.
Attorneys representing Lindell are asking the courts for permission to quit his case according to court documents. Lindell faces a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit by voting machine companies Smartmatic and Dominion Voting Systems. Attorney Andrew Parker claims that Lindell owes them millions of dollars he cannot pay back.
Lindell spoke to the Associated Press and confirmed that he does not have enough money to pay the lawyers and understands why they are dropping the case.
Parker wrote to the court that he and his firm cannot afford to represent MyPillow through the rest of the litigation. Parker claims that this would put the firm at a substantial financial risk.
Parker wrote in his fillings that Lindell paid the firm through the end of 2022. However, according to Parker, the payments slowed down in 2023 when fees for litigation increased. In May, the firm received payments over 60 days late and the payment did not meet the total of bills due. In July and August, no payments were made at all.
Lindell and MyPillow were warned by Parker and his firm, Parker Daniels Kibort, that they would have to quit their case if payment was not made.
MyPillow financial troubles: auctioning off hundreds of items after retailers drop product, Mike Lindell says
Mike Lindell's latest financial woes
Lindell has seen much financial trouble this year. Along with the lawsuit against him, many retailers like Walmart discontinued his products after he backed former President Donald Trump's claims about the 2020 election.
In April, Lindell was ordered to pay $5 million to a software engineer for breaching a contract with the engineer. Lindell used data to support his claims that China helped in the 2020 elections and helped President Joe Biden win. This was all part of his "Prove Mike Wrong Challenge" at the "Cyber Symposium" in 2021 located in South Dakota.
Although Mike Lindell plans not to file for bankruptcy, he admits that MyPillow has suffered dramatically.
2020 Election Supreme Court turns back effort by MyPillow CEO Lindell to toss $1.3 billion defamation suit
Lindell's support for Trump's election fraud claims
The company was impacted by Lindell's backing of former President Donald Trump's election fraud claims, for which he is currently fighting off a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit.
Lindell has previously said that MyPillow lost $100 million after his election fraud claims, WCCO reported. His company also lost an arbitration case in April related to election fraud claims, leading to his company, Lindell LLC, being ordered to pay $5 million.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lawyers for MyPillow's Mike Lindell say they are owed millions
