MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell called it the “Trial of the Century.”

So, when a federal jury found him liable Monday for defaming a former voting machine executive, you’d expect he’d at least shoot his shot, finally unveiling his alleged bombshell evidence of “the biggest crime the world has ever seen.”

Not so fast.

In the greatest surprise of the two-week trial, America’s chief financier of a network pushing stolen election claims never presented evidence that voting machines are corrupt and should be “melted down.” No proof that we need “paper ballots, hand counted.” No demonstration that the 2020 election was rigged to flip votes.

Not one expert from his claimed roster of 35 took the stand.

But the case was narrower. Former Dominion Voting Systems VP Eric Coomer sued over specific statements Lindell made about him personally — helping to transform Coomer into the villain of a stolen election myth. The eight-member jury found Lindell liable for only two of 10 statements.

First, on May 9, 2021, Lindell demanded Coomer turn himself in. “You are a traitor to the United States of America,” he declared, labeling Coomer “disgusting” and “treasonous.”

Second, on April 6, 2022 — after being served this very lawsuit on Colorado’s Capitol steps — Lindell called Coomer a “criminal” and accused him of being “part of the biggest crime this world has ever seen.”

The jury also found Lindell’s platform, FrankSpeech, liable for three additional statements. MyPillow, the third defendant, escaped unscathed.

Unlike past cases involving election fraud claims — including Lindell’s compatriot, former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters — this trial could have been the venue to finally present that evidence under oath in court.

Instead, Lindell deployed a circular argument that might have saved him millions in damages but exposed the apparent hollowness of his crusade.

In rambling testimony over three days, Lindell insisted the case wasn’t about stolen elections but about Coomer somehow “blocking” him from sharing “the evidence” about 2020. How? Through a deal Coomer allegedly cut with Newsmax TV that its CEO denied under oath.

But wait — this case has “nothing to do” with the 2020 election, Lindell contended.

This circular reasoning became his Achilles’ heel. Rather than present his bombshell evidence in court, he argued that believing a false claim is true constitutes sufficient defense against defamation.

Yet the only election expert admitted into the trial was for the plaintiff —Alex J. Halderman, a computer scientist whom Lindell praised and credited with originally inspiring his voting machine concerns.

When Lindell’s team tried to discredit Halderman, the professor dismissed Lindell’s claims as “science fiction” and “crazy town” — testifying that Lindell misrepresented his views entirely.

Halderman reiterated a key point: The existence of vulnerabilities in elections is not proof that those vulnerabilities were exploited.

Lindell’s team also deployed classic strategy: “It wasn’t us; it was them.” They pointed fingers at others, like podcaster Joe Oltmann, for driving anti-Coomer narratives and argued nearly everything Lindell said about Coomer came after he was served the lawsuit, which put MyPillow and its employees at risk.

Coomer’s lawyers painted a different picture: Lindell recklessly attacked Coomer without basic research — even ignoring warnings from people within his circle about the “cyber guys” he trusted.

They showed a letter from Mike Zullo — an advisor to former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a renowned conservative — warning Lindell that one of his key “experts,” Dennis Montgomery, was a charlatan who’d “infiltrated” his circle.

Despite such warnings, Lindell platformed election theorists that even his people dismissed — and personally escalated his attacks. As a result, Coomer says, he faced death threats, was forced into hiding, and had his reputation and career destroyed.

Lindell testified he’d spent about $50 million of his money to prove election rigging — driving him $10 million into debt as a result of his own actions.

Coomer’s chief problem was letting eight days of testimony become a firehose of information covering everything from defamatory statements to intricate election mechanics. His lawyers got lost in technical weeds of election minutiae and neglected to craft a tight narrative.

The case came down to two factors. First, the jury instructions defining “reckless disregard” for the truth — a key legal standard for defamation. Coomer’s team wanted specific details included; they weren’t, giving Lindell a lifeline. Second, which side told the more compelling, followable story.

The jury delivered a measured but unmistakable message: Lindell defamed Coomer with baseless claims about Coomer and elections. But they stopped short of finding “reckless disregard for the truth.”

The numbers tell the story: Coomer asked for $62.7 million. He got $2.3 million — including just $300,000 in punitive damages meant to deter future bad behavior.

Will this deterrence work? Lindell walked out of the courthouse promising to keep fighting, to keep making the same claims and to keep doubling down.

In an ironic twist, the pillow salesman who blew $50 million chasing election theories now faces a multimillion-dollar reality check he can’t afford, regardless of whether it was $2.3 million or $62.7 million.

The bottom line: A jury of Mike Lindell’s peers determined he’d lied and defamed Eric Coomer, seemingly as a proxy for 2020 election narratives. Everything else is just math.

Jimmy Sengenberger is an investigative journalist, public speaker, and longtime local talk-radio host. Reach Jimmy online at Jimmysengenberger.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @SengCenter.