The lawyer who has defended MyPillow chief executive and election denier Mike Lindell against a defamation lawsuit by a voting machine company is seeking court permission to quit, saying he is owed undisclosed millions of dollars and cannot pay millions more that will he owes future legal expenses.
Attorney Andrew Parker wrote in documents filed in federal court Thursday that his firm and a second firm representing MyPillow in the lawsuit by Smartmatic Voting Systems and Dominion cannot afford the costs of representing Lindell and MyPillow through the entire litigation. Continuing to defend it would put the firm “at serious financial risk,” he wrote.
It’s the latest in a string of legal and financial setbacks for Lindell, who spread former President Donald Trump’s lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him, in part by a rigged voting machine system.
The Associated Press left a phone message with Lindell on Friday. In a long-winded video posted on his FrankSpeech website Thursday night, he admitted that he’s out of money and his credit has dried up, so he can’t pay his lawyers.
Continuing to defend it would put the firm “at serious financial risk,” wrote Attorney Andrew Parker.AP
Amid his criticism of the news media, including Fox News and other conservative outlets, he said his company had lost more than $100 million after the big-box retailer dropped its products. He described himself as a victim of a “cultural void” and said he was not done fighting.
“I will never stop trying to secure an election for this country,” said a defiant Lindell. He went on to say: “I’m out of money. I have no money personally. Finished. Finished.”
Parker filed requests to stop in federal court in Minnesota, where Smartmatic filed a defamation suit seeking more than $1 billion, and in Washington, DC, where Lindell is a defendant in a similar $1.3 billion lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems that also targets Trump ally Rudy . Giuliani and Sidney Powell. Dominion won a nearly $800 million settlement from Fox News in April. Giuliani is being sued by a former attorney over alleged unpaid legal bills.
Lindell said his company has lost more than $100 million after the big-box retailer dropped its products.
Parker’s firm also moved to withdraw on similar grounds from a defamation lawsuit filed against Lindell, MyPillow and FrankSpeech in federal court in Colorado by Eric Coomer, former director of product strategy and security for Denver-based Dominion.
In July, Lindell admitted to the Star Tribune of Minneapolis that his company was auctioning off equipment and subleasing some of its manufacturing space in Minnesota after several major retailers including WalMart and several TV shopping chains stopped carrying MyPillow products amid negative publicity. He said the equipment is no longer needed as MyPillow consolidates its operations and focuses 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 claimed proved China interfered in the 2020 US election and communicated its findings to President Joe Biden. Lindell has launched a “Prove Mike Wrong Challenge,” as part of a “Cyber Symposium” he’s staging in South Dakota in 2021 to further his theory.
Lindell spoke as former President Donald Trump listened during a briefing on the coronavirus in 2020.AP
Parker wrote in his filing that Lindell and MyPillow had regularly paid his firm in full and on time through the end of 2022. But he said the payments slowed this year while fees and litigation costs “increased dramatically.” By May, payments slowed to more than 60 days and did not cover the full bill. Lindell and MyPillow did not make payments on the firm’s July and August bills, he wrote, although they did make several 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 it would have to withdraw if the bills were not paid.
He said Lindell and MyPillow understand his firm’s position, do not object, and are in the process of finding new counsel. No trial dates have been scheduled in either the Smartmatic or Dominion cases.
Ever the pitcher, Lindell, known as MyPillow Guy, is asking viewers of his webcast who want to help to contact and buy pillows, towels and other products.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
