Two Georgia election officials, targeted by conspiracy theories in connection with the 2020 election, are suing The Gateway Pundit, an extreme right-wing website, for posting false information about them to cast doubts about the integrity of the vote.
Poll worker Ruby Freeman, a retired 911 call center worker, and her daughter Shaye Moss allege in the lawsuit that Jim and Joe Hout, twin brothers who work and write for The Gateway Pundit, ran “a campaign of lies” called the “one Unleashed barrage of intimidation, harassment and threats that have forced them to change their phone numbers, delete their online accounts and fear for their physical safety. “
Freeman and her daughter became central figures in some of the many conspiracy theories that circulated among Conservatives in the months following the election. Other subjects of similar theories – notably companies that manufacture voting machines – have also filed lawsuits against media outlets who make misleading or clearly evidenced claims about their role in the elections.
Articles by The Gateway Pundit naming Freeman set up a feedback loop of allegations that included President Donald Trump and other conservative media outlets.
The Höfts did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
A month after articles appeared on The Gateway Pundit website accusing Freeman of “counting illegal ballots from a suitcase hidden under a table”, Former President Donald Trump referred to her by name during his phone call with Georgia’s Foreign Secretary Brad Raffensberger on Jan. 2. On the call, Trump called Freeman “a voice cheater, professional voice cheater and hustler”. (Trump is not named in the lawsuit.)
At the height of the harassment, Freeman said strangers tried twice to break into her home in an attempt to “carry out a civil arrest,” the lawsuit said. Freeman was eventually forced to close her business and, on the recommendation of the FBI, flee her home for two months, the lawsuit said.
“People have said the most heinous, violent, and racist things about me and my family – on the phone, on my social media accounts, through email, and in person. Things you wouldn’t believe, ”Freeman, who is Black, said in a statement.
“The toll of all of this weighs on your life, day in, day out. I go to church and know that God is my keeper so I keep my head up. But the effect is still there. For example, when I’m in public and hear someone calling my name, I flinch. Just hearing my name scares me. “
Gateway Pundit’s articles began when they identified Freeman on a surveillance video from a Georgia polling station first presented to the Georgian State Senate on December 3rd by Trump’s campaign attorney Jacki Pick. Pick claimed that someone “with the name Ruby on their shirt somewhere” found a “suitcase” full of ballots “under a table”.
A Trump spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The claims were quickly dismissed by both the Georgian Foreign Minister and the Investigative Bureau, who said there was no suitcase. Poll workers who had previously been told to stop counting the ballots and pack for the night were told to restart the ballot count and Freeman just got on with their job.
But the conspiracy theory lingered on pro-Trump websites and with QAnon influencers on social media, which eventually led to Hoft posting Freeman’s name. On December 22nd, then-President Trump tweeted a section of the conservative cable news broadcaster OANN with a letter from Gateway Pundit that the site called an “investigation.” The tweet, which only included the video with no comment from Trump, received hundreds of thousands of likes and retweets.
Gateway Pundit articles continued to accuse Freeman and Moss of election fraud throughout the spring and summer.
Freeman and Moss are represented by the non-profit Protect Democracy along with the law firms DuBose Miller, Dowd Bennett and Kastorf Law and the Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic of Yale Law School. They are seeking damages and punitive damages, as well as the removal of articles and statements declaring The Gateway Pundit’s coverage of Freeman and Moss to be false.
Freeman said in a statement that she “could not imagine ever going back to electoral work”.
“I did the times when I made the decision to work for the county because I thought I could help and because I knew I could do the job well,” she said. “What I didn’t know was that it was going to happen.”
