My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell reacts during a radio show hosted by Steve Bannon at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Convention Center in National Harbor, MD, US, 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 video and transcript.
The rare 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, 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,” said Lindell at the beginning of a March 8 deposition, addressing Coomer’s attorney. “You’re just a lawyer. You’re an ambulance chasing lawyer, so don’t get me started. I’ve 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, nothing lawyer bill. So go. Don’t scold me anymore.”
Watch the Lindell depositions here
The videos and transcripts became known only because attorneys for Coomer said they tried to depose Lindell three times, and each time he was “vulgar, threatening, loud, disrespectful to Dr. Coomer’s attorney and the Court , evasive, and above all non-responsive to inquiry,” they wrote this month.
CNBC reached out to Lindell for a response, and he called the lawsuit “frivolous” and “an embarrassment to our country.”
Coomer’s original suit said Lindell accused him of being “a traitor to the United States,” based on a false conspiracy theory that the former Dominion employee was involved in rigging votes in the 2020 election.
“[Lindell] claimed, without evidence, that Dr. Coomer has committed treason and that he should turn himself in to authorities,” the original lawsuit alleged. Lindell and his attorneys have denied the claims.
separately, Dominion is in the middle of a $1.3 billion legal battle with Lindell, who claims the Minnesota-based conspiracy theorist repeatedly made false statements 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 stand during an unscheduled break while, again, lashing out at counsel,” Coomer’s attorneys wrote. Lawyers have requested that the court ordered Lindell to go to Denver to be deposed a fourth time.
The tapes and transcripts of the depositions show that Lindell was clearly upset with the lawyers.
In a March 9 deposition, 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 the other day didn’t go much better, according to tapes of the interview.
“Have you ever been to a deposition where they couldn’t stand who you were?” Lindell lashed out at Coomer’s lawyers on March 8. “You’re disgusting. Go ahead,” he added.
