Two Georgia election workers are suing One America News Network (OAN) parent company, its top officials and former President TrumpDonald Trump vacationer at Biden: “Merry Christmas and Let’s Go Brandon” Biden’s messed up US trade policy deserves a 21st century Supreme Court MORE‘s ex-lawyer Rudy GiulianiRudy GiulianiTwo Georgian election workers sue OAN and Giuliani on election fraud allegations The January 6th truth emerges – responsibility will fall to the courts Georgian Foreign Ministry officials interviewed by January 6th panel: REPORT MORE on election fraud allegations touted after the 2020 presidential election, claiming the parties’ claims were defamatory.
Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, who worked as a voter registrar in Fulton County, and her mother Ruby Freeman, who was a temp during the 2020 election, filed a defamation lawsuit against the defendants in federal court in Washington, DC on Thursday, Reuters said .
The lawsuit named Herring Networks, a media company owned by OAN, Robert Herring, the organization’s chairman, Charles Herring, the group’s president, and OAN reporter Chanel Rion as defendants. Giuliani is also listed as a defendant.
Moss and Freeman allege OAN broadcast false stories claiming the two election workers planned to count illegal ballots in order to overturn the race for the then candidate Joe Biden
Joe Biden Harris tests negative for COVID-19 after close contact with an aide, according to Reuters. However, these allegations have been proven false by Georgian election officials.
The lawsuit focuses on a claim first touted by a Trump volunteer campaign attorney last December, according to Reuters. President supporters cited a surveillance video from a polling center in Fulton County where Moss and Freeman were working saying the two workers were handling “suitcases” of illegal ballot papers tagged for Biden after most people left the premises .
The lawsuit alleges that Giuliani “amplified the video by posting about it on social media” and accuses “OAN, its hosts and its staff” of publishing Giuliani’s claims to “millions of its viewers and readers”.
Plaintiffs allege that they were the target of harassment because of the network’s misreporting. According to photos of the complaint published by Politico, Freeman received threatening messages, harassed phone calls and had strangers knock on her door.
Moss’s old phone, which her 14-year-old son was using at the time, reportedly received several threatening phone calls. According to the lawsuit, the harassing phone calls lasted for months.
She also reportedly received dozens of harassing messages on Facebook, LinkedIn and Pinterest, some of which contained violent threats. In addition, in at least two cases, strangers are said to have turned up at her grandmother’s house, where she previously lived, and tried to carry out a civil arrest.
NEW: Two Georgia election workers targeted by conspiracy theories are suing OANN and Rudy Giuliani. They say the false claims resulted in people showing up at home, mailing threatening Christmas cards, and relentlessly harassing them. One says she had to flee her home country for two months. pic.twitter.com/fwc0RG7YG0
– Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) December 23, 2021
Herring told Reuters in a brief interview that he was not concerned about legal prosecution, claiming the network had not committed any wrongdoing.
“I know all about it and I’m laughing,” he said, referring to the lawsuit. “I laugh at the four or five others who are suing me. At some point it will switch them on and go in the other direction. “
The lawsuit against executives at OAN and Giuliani is the second lawsuit Moss and Freeman filed this month. The duo sued conservative website Gateway Pundit earlier this month for defamation.
The Hill approached OAN, Herring Networks, and Giuliani for comment.
