Coomer v. Lindell Trial is Set to Begin Today – What’s In? What’s Out? And Why Is It So Important?
Hat tip to Ashe In America. Follow her on X @AsheInAmerica for frequent updates on the trial.
On Monday, Eric Coomer, former Director of Product Strategy and Security for Dominion Voting Systems, will face off against Mike Lindell, MyPillow, and FrankSpeech (consolidated as “Lindell”) in a lawsuit brought in federal court in Colorado.
Coomer is suing Lindell for defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and civil conspiracy, claiming that Lindell’s conduct provoked “an onslaught of harassment and credible death threats issued against him.”
The lawsuit centers around alleged false claims and defamatory statements made by Mike Lindell as a result of accusations made by Joe Oltmann on The Conservative Daily Podcast (now Untamed) following the 2020 election.
Oltmann alleged that he had covertly infiltrated a phone call for ANTIFA members prior to the 2020 election. During the call, Oltmann claims a man identified as “Eric from Dominion” had ensured that President Trump would not win and that he “made effing sure of it.” After the 2020 election concluded, Oltmann believed “Eric from Dominion” on that call was likely Eric Coomer, the then-Director of Product Strategy and Security for Dominion Voting Systems.
Following the election, numerous vitriolic social media posts by Coomer against President Trump and anyone who supports him, including Coomer’s own family and co-workers, surfaced, some with demands that family and friends stop following him and unfriend him. In a 2021 New York Times article by Susan Dominus titled “He Was the ‘Perfect Villian’ for Voting Conspiracists,” Coomer does not dispute the posts but rather expresses regret that he didn’t delete them.
From the New York Times:
As Coomer watched the video, though, he felt a second strong emotion: a powerful sense of regret — because the Facebook posts were, in fact, authentic. Why, he thought, hadn’t he just deleted them? Coomer could imagine how his words would sound to just about any Republican, let alone someone already hearing on Fox News that Dominion was switching votes for Biden. He told me that he believed every word of what he said on Facebook, but when colleagues later asked him what he was thinking, he was frank: He had screwed up. At a time when well-funded efforts to sow mistrust in the election were already underway, Coomer had given conspiracy theorists a valuable resource, a grain of sand they could transform into something that had the feel — the false promise — of proof.
Some of these posts will be permitted as evidence during the trial starting on Monday, however, some key posts and interesting facts, as reported by the New York Times, will not.
In the Order on Motion in Limine (seeking exclusion of arguments or evidence from trial), Coomer had sought to preclude several “categories of evidence” from the trial (and the judge’s ruling on them):
- Coomer’s September 2021 car accident – the judge will allow questioning about the accident during cross-examination but will not allow the body-cam footage to be viewed or any testimony beyond “the truthfulness of Coomer’s statements to police about his involvement in the accident)
- his sex life – Granted because it was unopposed by Lindell’s defense
- his drug and alcohol abuse – Granted
- his religious beliefs or opinions – Granted
- his opinions about law enforcement, Black Lives Matter movement, and related issues – Granted
- his Facebook posts about President Trump – Denied
- other assorted Facebook posts – Granted for the specific posts exemplified but denied for unspecified posts
- a 118-page document titled “Eric Coomer: Pawn, Plant, or Perp?” – Granted
What’s Permitted
In September 2021, after the incident’s alleged in the lawsuit, Coomer was involved in an automobile accident in Colorado. He crashed his truck into a building and fled the scene to the bar he owned down the street. When he was confronted by police at the establishment, he denied any knowledge of the accident while telling police that he had just done some shots with the cook at the bar.
After an hour, while in the back of the police car in handcuffs, and after the police spoke with Coomer’s attorney on-scene, Coomer finally admitted that he hit the building and panicked.
This will be admitted for the purpose of evaluating his “truthfulness,” however, the body cam footage will not be admissible.
Social Media Posts About President Trump
Coomer’s vitriolic posts towards President Trump and anyone who would vote for him from 2016 through the 2020 election are permitted.
On July 21, 2016, Coomer wrote:
“If you are planning to vote for that autocratic, narcissitic, fascist ass-hat blowhard and his [C]hristian jihadist VP pic, UNFRIEND ME NOW! No, I’m not joking…Only an absolute F***KING IDIOT could ever vote for that wind-bag f***-tard FASCIST RACIST F***!! No bulls**t. I don’t give a damn if you’re friend, family, or random acquaintance, pull the lever, mark an oval, touch a screen for that carnival barker…UNFRIEND ME NOW. I have no desire whatsoever to ever interact with you. You are beyond hope, beyond reason. You are controlled by fear, reaction and bulls**t. Get your sh*t together.
Oh, if that doesn’t persuade you, F*** YOU! Seriously, this f***ing ass-clown stands against everything that makes this country awesome! You want in on that? You deserve nothing but contempt.
In a “2nd edit” later in the post, he continued:
“these opinions are rational, and completely my own. They are based in reason and highly credible (emphasis added). Though they are not necessarily the thoughts of my employer, though if not, I should probably find another job…Who wants to work for complete morons? None of my personal opinions affect my professional conduct or attitudes. I am non-partisan. I am not, however, willing to stand by and watch this great country be taken over by fascists without saying something, anything.”
Dominus wrote in her article about Dominion’s efforts to set up guardrails for employees to “express themselves” given the sensitivities of their profession:
“Coomer was part of several conversations among Dominion employees about how to balance their right to express themselves with the sensitivities specific to their industry. Dominion also searched through its employees’ social media accounts, checking for comments or tweets that might reflect poorly on the company. No one ever raised any concerns with Coomer about his posts, because his posts were only available to his Facebook friends.”
While Coomer rejects the idea that his unhinged but “rational,” “completely [his] own,” and “based in reason and highly credible” social media posts could affect his work in any way, he said he’d be willing to quit his job if they (his employer) didn’t agree with his ideology (“I should probably find another job…who wants to work for complete morons?”) and that he “can’t stand by and watch this great country be taken over without saying something.”
Lastly, on June 2, 2020, Coomer posted a de facto “Antifa Manifesto” titled, “To All Media: Public Statement From “ANTIFA” in Response to the Threats Issued by United States President Donald J. Trump”
In it, they claim “‘ANTIFA’ isn’t an organization. There’s no membership, no meetings, no dues, no rules, no leaders, no structure. It is, literally, an idea and nothing more” in a “Public Statement from ‘ANTIFA’” that was posted by the person who “maintained the ‘AntiFa’ page on Facebook since founding it in 2017.”
The trial begins today in federal court in Denver, CO and is expected to run approximately 10 days. Check back with The Gateway Pundit for updates.
The post Coomer v. Lindell Trial is Set to Begin Today – What’s In? What’s Out? And Why Is It So Important? appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.