Mike Lindell listens during an interview from the podium in the press briefing room of the White House, Friday, Feb. 21, 2025, in Washington (AP Photo/Alex Brandon).
MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell is still dodging his court-obligated debts, according to a Thursday filing in Washington, D.C., federal court.
The week began with a reprieve of sorts for the onetime Minnesota pillow business maven.
On Monday, Lindell and the voting hardware and software company formerly known as Dominion Voting Systems, and currently called Liberty Vote Holdings, abruptly ended their yearslong legal dispute.
Along with associated entities, Liberty Vote and Lindell agreed "to the dismissal of all claims and causes of action asserted…with prejudice." Essentially, neither of the two stipulating parties can ever file the same claims and counterclaims against one another in a civil lawsuit.
That agreed-to bit of finality is precisely what motivated Smartmatic to file its own motion to enter final judgment against Lindell.
"In light of the Stipulated Dismissal, the only pending dispute in this action is the sanctions Lindell owes Smartmatic," the motion reads.
Smartmatic, for its part, has long been owed a substantial pot of funds after the court overseeing the case sanctioned Lindell. And, for just as long, Lindell has refused to pay.
It all began in February 2021 when Dominion sued MyPillow and Lindell for $1.3 billion after the stalwart Donald Trump ally accused both voting companies of rigging the 2020 presidential election.
Lindell, in turn, sued both voting companies — adding Smartmatic as a third-party defendant to the case — for myriad counterclaims and lost. Smartmatic later moved for sanctions and won in 2022.
But while Lindell's legal issues waxed and waned across the country, the Smartmatic sanctions remained, hanging in the air, unresolved, unpaid.
While Smartmatic achieved a relatively quick victory for being dragged into a lawsuit it wanted no part of, the company had to prod the court in October 2024 for Lindell to pay out the award and finally decide on the dollar amount he owed. Even then, Smartmatic said Lindell simply had not paid the $56,369 in sanctions due over his frivolous claims, and pushed for contempt in March 2025.
"Smartmatic was improperly made a party to this Action by Mr. Lindell in December 2021," the motion for civil contempt reads. "Shortly thereafter, Smartmatic was dismissed and the Court found that sanctions were appropriate for at least some of the claims Lindell had asserted. Now, nearly three full years after that ruling, Smartmatic continues to wait to be made whole. Despite the Court's clear and unambiguous ruling earlier this year that Lindell compensate Smartmatic for the fees it spent litigating Lindell's frivolous claims, Lindell still has not paid, nor has he meaningfully engaged in any discussions or negotiations regarding the terms of payment."
Nearly a year passed.
In April, U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, finally answered Smartmatic's call for sanctions. In an order, the court tacked on an additional $500 for each day of continued "noncompliance" and chastised the pillow salesman at length.
"That Lindell prioritized spending in other legal proceedings over this case—despite those proceedings taking place after the Court ordered him to pay Smartmatic for filing frivolous counterclaims against it—does not excuse his failure to pay here," Nichols said.
The day after Nichols' latest order was unsealed, Smartmatic alerted the judge that Lindell had not made "any" payment at all — starting the clock on the $500-per-day contempt penalties.
Earlier this month, Smartmatic complained again. According to the company, Lindell has racked up over $36,000 in contempt fines, bringing the new grand total to more than $95,000.
Now, Smartmatic says it has waited long enough.
"As Smartmatic has indicated in its updates to the Court, Lindell has done nothing to comply with the Court's sanctions order, nor its subsequent contempt order," the motion reads. "Smartmatic respectfully requests that the Court approve the Form of Judgment and direct the Clerk of Court to enter judgment accordingly in Smartmatic's favor and against Lindell."
While the motion is effectively yet another in a long line of reminders, Smartmatic is specifically targeting three distinct pots of money.
The motion asks Nichols to clarify "the amount of principal and accrued interest presently due and owing under the sanctions award" as well as whether the $500-per-day penalties are for the company's benefit. In some instances, contempt fines are paid to the court itself.
Additionally, Smartmatic believes it is entitled to post-judgment interest dated to when the final order is entered — and keyed to the specific interest rate set for civil judgments under federal law.
"Thus far, Lindell has failed to pay any sanctions to Smartmatic, and has not executed an escrow agreement," the motion complains. "Seventy-nine days have passed since April 7, 2026. Lindell now owes $39,500 in civil contempt penalties in addition to the $56,369 he must pay Smartmatic, totaling $95,369."