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By Alice Gibbs
Senior Reporter
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One of Mike Lindell’s biggest legal battles has come to an end—but his legal woes are still unfolding as he prepares to battle for governor of Minnesota.
The voting technology company formerly known as Dominion Voting Systems has moved to dismiss its $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit against the MyPillow CEO, closing one of the most prominent cases tied to false election claims.
The dismissal, filed in June 2026, ends that specific lawsuit “with prejudice,” meaning it cannot be refiled.
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Speaking to Newsweek, Lindell described the outcome as “a blessing” after what he said had been “five and a half years of them attacking MyPillow and myself. This is a great day for myself and a great day for America."
But while the Dominion case is now closed, Lindell continues to face ongoing legal exposure—including an unresolved case brought by Smartmatic and a prior damages ruling against him—as he simultaneously runs for governor of Minnesota.
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Claims After 2020 Election Triggered Lawsuits
Lindell’s legal challenges stem from statements made in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, when he repeatedly claimed voting machines were used to manipulate the outcome.
In February 2021, Dominion filed a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit, alleging Lindell knowingly spread false claims that harmed the company’s business.
The case became one of several major legal actions brought by voting technology companies responding to election-related allegations, including cases against Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell and former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne.
Smartmatic filed a separate defamation case against Lindell in January 2022 over similar claims, creating parallel legal exposure that would continue for years.
Lindell continues to push back on the suits. "These machine company lawsuits have been basically frivolous the whole time because you can't hide the truth," he said. "That's why I wanted these cases to go all the way to trial so that we could show all the evidence of our election platforms in this country, in the United States."
Early Court Setbacks and Sanctions
Lindell responded aggressively in court, filing counterclaims against both companies. Those efforts, however, largely failed.
In May 2022, a federal judge dismissed key parts of his counterclaims and imposed sanctions, describing aspects of the filings as “frivolous.” He was also ordered to pay roughly $56,000 to Smartmatic to cover legal costs tied to those filings.
Courts also declined to dismiss the underlying defamation cases, allowing them to move forward.
The rulings established an early pattern: judges were unwilling to accept Lindell’s legal arguments as a defense against the defamation claims.
Financial Strain Mounted As Cases Progressed
By 2023 and 2024, the litigation began to take a financial toll.
Lindell’s own lawyers moved to withdraw from the Dominion case, saying he owed millions in fees. Lindell acknowledged the strain, telling Politico: “There’s no money… We haven’t been able to pay these lawyers at all.” In other interviews, he said he had “$10,000 to my name” and that MyPillow had been “decimated,” losing hundreds of millions of dollars.
The following year, he described ongoing pressure on his business more broadly, telling The Independent the situation felt “like having a gun to your head” as he dealt with mounting debts and limited access to financing.
The escalating costs and procedural setbacks underscored the growing pressure of defending multiple high-stakes defamation cases.
2025 Rulings and Financial Consequences
The legal pressure intensified significantly in 2025, when court rulings began translating into direct financial penalties.
In June 2025, a federal jury found Lindell liable for defaming a former Dominion executive and ordered him to pay approximately $2.3 million in damages.
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Later, in September 2025, a judge ruled that Lindell had also defamed Smartmatic, though the question of damages in that case has not yet been resolved.
Appearing before Washington District Court Judge Carl Nichols in 2025, Lindell said he was financially "in ruins" and not able to pay $56,396 to Smartmatic, which a court ordered him to after concluding he filed a frivolous counterclaim in a defamation lawsuit.
Just months later, on December 11, 2025, Lindell announced he was running for governor of Minnesota, launching his campaign from his MyPillow factory and positioning himself as a Republican challenger in 2026.
Together, the rulings marked a shift from ongoing litigation to established liability, with potentially larger financial consequences still pending—even as Lindell moved into electoral politics.
Dominion Case Dropped
The dismissal of the Dominion lawsuit in June 2026 represents a major development in Lindell’s legal battles.
The company—now operating under new ownership as Liberty Vote—agreed to end the case, with both sides covering their own legal costs. The terms of the settlement have not been publicly disclosed.
However, the dismissal does not amount to a legal finding that Lindell’s claims were valid. Instead, it reflects a decision by the company to close the case following its 2025 sale.
Crucially, the Smartmatic lawsuit remains active, with damages still to be determined—meaning Lindell’s overall legal exposure has not been fully resolved.
Despite the pressure, Lindell told Newsweek he intends to “keep fighting” on the issue of election systems.
“I'll feel vindicated when the United States uses paper ballots and counted, and we get rid of these electronic voting machines like 132 other countries have done. They need to all be gone. So that's when I'll feel vindicated. I'm going to keep fighting that battle and to get rid of the machines. And nothing's changed there," he said.
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Running for Governor Amid Legal Challenges
The legal developments come as Lindell campaigns for governor of Minnesota, placing his courtroom battles alongside his political ambitions.
Despite legal troubles, latest polls show that Lindell is leading the field to win the Republican primary for Minnesota governor. A survey by KSTP/SurveyUSA, conducted between June 11 and 16, revealed that 27 percent of Republican respondents backed Lindell.
Lindell pointed to his polling as evidence the lawsuits have not hurt his campaign. “Since last summer I’ve been number one in every one. It keeps going up," he said. “We're the American, it's the American dream and we want to preserve the American dream for everybody and that's why I'm fighting for Minnesota.”
In January, incumbent Democratic Governor Tim Walz announced that he would not seek a third term, opening the race to a wide slate of candidates from both parties. Minnesota's primary election is scheduled for August 11, 2026.
That dynamic leaves Lindell navigating two high-stakes arenas at once: an unresolved legal fight that could carry substantial financial consequences, and a political campaign where his path to victory remains uncertain.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: John Fitzpatrick and Emma Lee-Sang.
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