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The mainstream headline about Coomer v. Lindell on Wednesday night was that “Mike Lindell’s attorneys have declined to argue that his election-rigging claims are true at a defamation trial in Colorado this week.” Like much of the other reporting on this case, this is misinformation.
Mike Lindell’s affirmative defenses have always as described in the “partial transcript.”
The reporting is attempting to make Lindell’s team appear reactive and chaotic, by repositioning their long stated positions as some sort of change.
The quoted “partial trial transcript” — more on that in a second — is essentially saying the same thing as the pretrial order; the difference is the clinical brief versus the opening statements — a narrative.
Mike will show at trial why he believes the machines are rigged, what his (minimal) knowledge of Coomer was at the time of his allegedly defamatory statements, and why he’d use the word “traitor” from a place of personal belief.
If Mike believed his claims were true — and he still does — then he wasn’t speaking lies to harm Coomer. He was speaking what he believed to be true.
That cannot rise to meet Coomer’s burden of willful negligence and actual malice. I’ve said since day one, Mike could actually win this thing.
On Tuesday, the Court declined to hold Lindell in contempt, but she issued him a warning. Lindell agreed to not discuss witness testimony with the press during the trial. Many have reported that this “gagging” and “censoring,” and a couple people sent me their concerns and condolences because I wouldn’t be able to cover the trial anymore…
To be clear, there has been no change to the court’s media order. It hasn’t changed since the beginning of trial. There is no gag order, and the drama has nothing to do with reporters. The discussions on Wednesday revolved around Lindell tweeting during the trial and discussing testimony while it’s happening.
Mike agreed to refrain from further activity in the media.
You can still make the argument that the court is restricting Mike’s first amendment rights, but no one can claim there is a media blackout, a gag order, or a censorship of anyone other than the defendant, Mike Lindell.
Also, how did a local media station get a partial transcript. Real time transcripts weren’t ordered in this case and won’t be available until after trial. That means KUSA is potentially in violation of the media order. Will they have any problems? Probably not.
It’s important to realize that the jury hasn’t seen any of this controversy. It’s all handled before they come in and after they leave.
As far as what the jury saw, Coomer was cross examined by the defense attorneys. I’m told that the jury was mostly engaged during Coomer’s testimony, though “that one guy was falling asleep.” Two unrelated sources in the courtroom told me that one juror was sort of snoozy, and their descriptions matched.
After Coomer, Matt Crane took the stand.
Crane and Coomer are good friends, and sources in the court told me that he (1) admitted he was invested in the outcome of the case, (2) struggled with answers about his wife and Coomer’s relationship (they were colleagues at DVS), and (3) alleged that the risk limiting audit was a security measure that ensured voters could trust the 2020 elections — but didn’t know that only four states were using RLA in 2020… and he said that.
“He looked like a fool in front of the jury,” a witness to the cross-examination told me. Apparently, Lindell’s attorneys also made Cane read Coomer’s #UnTrumpMe Facebook posts in response to assertions that he was respected and professional until “The Big Lie.” The post was published in 2016, and Coomer and Crane are friends on Facebook as well as in real life.
Today, Coomer is supposed to call Joe Oltmann to testify. Oltmann’s 2020 statements comprise the central defamation claims in this case, and his testimony is highly anticipated. Oltmann’s attorney entered an appearance in the case Wednesday evening.
I will be in the court today, so follow my X account for updates (posted on the breaks in accordance with the media order).
This article was originally published on asheinamerica.substack.com.
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The post Eric Coomer's Friend Matt Crane Testifies in Lindell Trial appeared first on Colorado Free Press.