A Colorado federal judge has rejected Mike Lindell’s attempt to dismiss a defamation lawsuit brought against him by Eric Coomer, a former executive of Dominion Voting Systems. The suit, which centers around Lindell’s claims that Coomer interfered with the 2020 election, will now proceed to trial.

In her Thursday ruling, U.S. District Judge Nina Y. Wang found that Lindell, the MyPillow CEO, "missed the forest for the trees" by isolating his statements from their broader context. Lindell had argued that his comments about Coomer were protected opinions or substantially true. However, Judge Wang disagreed, stating that a reasonable jury could interpret Lindell's remarks as defamatory.

Coomer, who served as Dominion’s director of product strategy and security, claims that Lindell’s accusations, which were amplified through his website FrankSpeech LLC and public appearances, led to severe harassment and threats against him. The defamation suit alleges that Lindell referred to Coomer as "corrupt," "criminal," and a "traitor to the United States."

Judge Wang also dismissed Lindell's arguments challenging Coomer’s claims of intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED) and civil conspiracy. The judge asserted that Coomer had provided sufficient evidence of emotional distress, which included testimony from Coomer’s therapist about his deteriorating mental health following Lindell’s Cyber Symposium in 2021.

The judge further ruled on the admissibility of expert witness testimony from Dr. J. Alex Halderman, allowing some of Halderman's analysis regarding the 2021 Cyber Symposium data to be presented at trial, while excluding other parts of his testimony.

Judge Wang’s order also struck Lindell’s attempt to designate other individuals, including Joe Oltmann, Rudy Giuliani, and Donald Trump’s campaign, as responsible for any harm Coomer suffered, ruling that Lindell’s claims lacked sufficient evidence.

With Lindell’s summary judgment motion denied, the case will move forward to trial, where a jury will ultimately decide the outcome.