MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell’s defamation trial is now in the hands of a Colorado jury.

Was Lindell a patriot committed to uncovering the “truth” behind President Trump’s loss in the 2020 election, or did he take his investigation too far when he recklessly targeted a Dominion Voting Systems employee for being the cause?

Lindell has been on trial for two weeks, sued for defamation, civil conspiracy, and intentional emotional distress by Eric Coomer for calling him a traitor who engaged in treasonous behavior by rigging the 2020 election through ties to China.

These are claims which Coomer vehemently denied on the stand and were never proven.

Coomer’s attorneys asking for a total of $62 million in total damages.

During Friday’s closing arguments, Coomer’s attorney Charles Cain identified 10 alleged defamatory statements Lindell made publicly over a nearly two-year period starting May 3, 2021, and ending March 10, 2023.

Cain stated that the worst examples occurred during a May 9, 2021, broadcast and at a live-streamed cyber symposium nine months later, which lent legitimacy to the theory that Coomer and Dominion were involved in an election scheme involving swapped votes in favor of Biden.

During the August 2021 South Dakota cyber event, a stream of “unvetted” speakers, including former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, took the stage to emphasize the idea that the election had been stolen.

Coomer said that he was so traumatized by the firestorm created by Lindell’s tirades against him that he started taking medication for his anxiety and went into hiding in fear for his life.

When it was the defense’s turn to give closing statements, the 8-person jury listened attentively as attorney Jennifer DeMasters advised them that their decision is so simple that it should take only 10 minutes. “The only thing this comes down to is whether the defendant, Mr. Lindell, believed that what he was saying was true,” which she called “the crux of our First Amendment.”

She accused Coomer’s attorneys and a barrage of witnesses of being in “a club” that ganged up on Lindell.

However, Coomer’s attorneys say it was Lindell who was the aggressor who ruined the Dominion employee’s career and his life by spreading those claims recklessly without evidence.

How it started

Lindell’s alleged theories that the 2020 election was rigged in favor of former President Joe Biden were borrowed and then amplified from a November 2020 podcast recorded by Joe Oltmann. It was on that podcast that Oltmann alleged he listened to on a call attended by a group of left-wingers days after the 2020 presidential election. On that call, which Oltmann nicknamed the “Antifa Call,” an unnamed participant referenced “Eric…the Dominion guy.” Oltmann alleged “Eric” said “Don’t worry about the election, (Donald) Trump is. Not gonna win. I made f-cking sure of that.”

After googling “Eric, Dominion,” and Colorado, Oltmann concluded that Coomer was the culprit.

Lindell ran with that information on his television station and at a cyber symposium in August 2021, Coomer’s attorneys said, without verifying it.

Coomer testified that he was not on the call and suffered from the target he had on his back for 4.5 years.

Promo code ‘JURY’ guarantees MyPillow discounts

During the trial, Lindell was often surrounded by admirers who sat in hard wooden seats every day, taking copious notes. Many of them still believe that the election was stolen, with some passing out fliers expanding on that theory.

Before closing arguments, a group of them were seen praying in a circle outside the courtroom.

At one point during the trial, Lindell broadcast a sales pitch for pillows and slippers on his website, which advertised discounts with the promo code “JURY.”

On the third day, Lindell was admonished by U.S. District Judge Nina Wang for tweeting from the courtroom and for doing live interviews on the courthouse steps.

The jury heard from numerous plaintiff witnesses, including Coomer, from his psychiatrist, from podcaster Joe Oltmann, and from a cybersecurity expert who called Lindell’s theories “crazy town.”

Lindell testified that he did nothing wrong and would not take responsibility for hurting Coomer with his words.

Also testifying was an economic damages expert who surmised that it would take more than $2.7 million to repair Coomer’s reputation, which he based on the number of clicks on derogatory stories about the plaintiff.

The only defense witness was a computer expert who analyzed social media posts, articles and videos related to Coomer which he said had millions of views, but acknowledged that some of the words associated with his name included “traitor,” “kill,” “die,” “hang” and “shoot.”

Though President Trump and his attorneys have claimed election fraud through the introduction of more than 60 lawsuits in the United States, none of them have come up with enough evidence to prove that Coomer, Dominion, or anyone else involved with vote-counting has changed election results.

The five-man, three-woman jury took lunch and will begin deliberating Friday afternoon.