New tapes reveal MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell meltdown in 2020 election deposition
Lindell repeatedly lost his temper, left the room and swore at opposing counsel during a series of depositions earlier this year.
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My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell reacts during a radio show hosted by Steve Bannon during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at Gaylord National Convention Center in National Harbor, M.D., U.S., March 2, 2023.
Sarah Silbiger | Reuters
Prominent Donald Trump supporter and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell repeatedly lost his temper, left the room and swore at opposing counsel during a series of depositions earlier this year, according to newly released videos and transcripts.
The extraordinary interviews were conducted as part of a defamation lawsuit brought by Dr. Eric Coomer, former director of product strategy and security at Dominion Voting Systems, who has accused Lindell of repeatedly defaming him in public and online following Trump's loss in the 2020 presidential race.
"Don't sit and scold me already, mister. I'll do whatever I have to do," Lindell said at the start of a March 8 deposition, addressing Coomer's attorney. "You're just a lawyer. You're an ambulance-chasing lawyer, so don't start with me. I got all day. I'll take as much time as you want, so let's go. You're not my boss. You're just a lawyer, a frivolous lawyer. So go. Don't start scolding me."
Watch the Lindell depositions here
The videos and transcripts only came to light because attorneys for Coomer said they have tried to depose Lindell three times, and each time he was "vulgar, threatening, loud, disrespectful to Dr. Coomer's counsel and the Court, evasive, and largely non-responsive to questioning," they wrote this month.
CNBC reached out to Lindell for a response, and he called the lawsuit "frivolous" and "a disgrace to our country."
Coomer's original suit claims that Lindell accused him of being "a traitor to the United States," based on a false conspiracy theory that the former Dominion employee was involved with rigging votes in the 2020 election.
"[Lindell] has claimed, without evidence, that Dr. Coomer committed treason and that he should turn himself into the authorities," the original lawsuit alleged. Lindell and his attorneys have denied the claims.
Separately, Dominion is in the midst of a $1.3 billion legal battle with Lindell, claiming the Minnesota-based conspiracy theorist repeatedly made false claims about the company rigging voting machines in the 2020 presidential election.
Lindell's most recent deposition in August "ended after Mr. Lindell left the witness chair during an unscheduled break while, again, disparaging counsel," Coomer's lawyers wrote. The attorneys have requested that the court order Lindell to come to Denver to be deposed a fourth time.
The tapes and transcripts of the depositions show Lindell clearly getting agitated with the attorneys.
In a deposition on March 9, Lindell said his pillow and bed linens business "is probably down — I don't know— half, more than half, because of all this stuff," according to the newly released transcript.
Lindell's deposition a day earlier didn't go any smoother, according to the tapes of the interview.
"Have you ever been in a deposition where they can't stand who you are?" Lindell snapped at Coomer's lawyers on March 8. "You're disgusting. Keep going," he added.
