Lawyers representing MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell in three separate defamation cases are set to sever ties with the 2020 election denier over millions of dollars in unpaid legal fees.
Law firm Parker Daniels Kibort LLC said in new court filings that Mr Lindell and his pillow company are several months behind on their legal bills in the three cases.
Now, the lawyers claim they can no longer afford to represent the notorious Donald Trump supporter in the absence of any payment.
“At this time, Defendants are in arrears by millions of dollars to PDK,” the filing said.
“PDK is a small litigation and trial firm in Minneapolis, MN and cannot afford to finance Defendants’ defense in the Litigations.”
The law firm said that if it continues to represent Mr Lindell and MyPillow, then “future fees and costs will amount to millions of dollars in addition to the millions of dollars already owed”.
Dominion Voting Systems is suing Mr Lindell for defamation after he spread false conspiracy theories that its voting machines were rigged to help Joe Biden win the 2020 election.
The lawsuit alleges that Mr Lindell “knowingly lied about Dominion to sell more pillows to people who continued tuning in to hear what they wanted to hear about the election”.
Dominion is seeking damages of $1.3bn against the pillow salesman.
Mr Lindell is also being sued for defamation by voting machine company Smartmatic and former Dominion employee Eric Coomer.
In all three lawsuits, claimants say their reputations have been damaged by Mr Lindell’s repeated claims of fraud around the 2020 presidential election.
Mr Lindell has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
Businessman and election conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell talks with reporters outside the club house at the Trump National Golf Club on 13 June 2023— (Getty Images)
The MyPillow CEO responded to his legal team quitting by admitting that he is broke.
“We’ve lost everything, every dime,” he told NBC News. “All of it is gone.”
He added that he would gladly pay his lawyers if he wasn’t broke, praising them as “brave and courageous”.
Mr Lindell said MyPillow has faced a series of financial challenges amid his legal troubles, with American Express cutting its credit line to the company in September and companies reportedly refusing to stock his pillows because of his insistence that the 2020 election was stolen.
Mr Lindell was previously forced to auction off more than 800 items, including personal possessions and equipment from his MyPillow factories, after retailers cut ties with him.
His financial situation also means he can longer afford to take out any loans, he said.
In an interview with Newsweek in March, the pillow salesman said he’d been forced to borrow $10m to pay for his legal fees.
“They took away my borrowing because of all you guys in the media,” Mr Lindell said, adding that he’d been “canceled” over his comments over the 2020 election.
Mr Lindell was also ordered to pay $5m to computer forensics expert Robert Zeidman after he tried to renege on a promise to pay $5m to anyone who could prove purported evidence of 2020 election fraud was false.
Mr Zeidman won the challenge but Mr Lindell refused to pay – before he was ordered to in court.
The MyPillow CEO is now challenging the arbitration panel’s ruling.
Parker Daniels Kibort LLC is now advising Mr Lindell to seek other counsel, according to court filings.
“Defendants have indicated that they understand PDK’s position, do not object, and are in the process of finding new counsel,” the filing said.
Despite his financial woes, Mr Lindell has no plans to stop pushing his stolen election claims.
“I will never stop trying to secure our elections,” he said.
It comes after lawyers representing fellow Mr Trump ally Rudy Giuliani sued the former New York City mayor for $1.4m in unpaid fees.
Mr Giuliani, who is also being sued by Smartmatic, Dominion and Mr Coomer, has been found liable for defaming two Georgia election workers, and is facing related criminal charges in Fulton County. He has pleaded not guilty to the Georgia election interference charges. In September, Mr Trump held a fundraiser to raise money for Mr Giuliani’s legal defense fund.
