Georgia election workers get settlement from far-right website over ballot fraud claims
Wandrea ArShaye "Shaye" Moss (L), former Georgia election worker, is comforted by her mother Ruby Freeman (R) as Moss testifies during the fourth hearing on the January 6th investigation in the Cannon House Office Building on June 21, 2022, in Washin
FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - Two former Fulton County election workers have just scored a legal victory against a conservative website for false allegations that they engaged in ballot fraud during the 2020 general election.
Fulton County elections workers Ruby Freeman and Wandrea "Shaye" Moss, a mother and daughter, filed the lawsuit in 2021 against The Gateway Pundit, its owner Jim Hoft and his brother Joe Hoft, a contributor to the site. Among other things, the lawsuit said the website and the Hofts conducted a "campaign of lies" that led to online and in-person harassment against the two women.
According to a report by the Guardian, the Gateway Pundit settled the defamation lawsuit this week.
While details about the settlement have not been disclosed, the Guardian reported that nearly 20 articles cited by Freeman and Moss in the lawsuit were no longer available on The Gateway Pundit's website.
"The dispute between the parties has been resolved to the mutual satisfaction of the parties through a fair and reasonable settlement," the legal team for Moss and Freeman told the newspaper.
In their lawsuit against The Gateway Pundit, Freeman and Moss said that the outlet was the first place to name the two former Fulton County election workers in a conspiracy that they pulled out and counted hidden, fraudulent ballots.
The allegation that "suitcases" of ballots were pulled from under tables away from the eyes of observers was almost immediately debunked. But it continues to circulate among supporters of the former president and others who say the election was marred by fraud.
MORE: Georgia election worker says she feared for her life over fraud lies
The Gateway Pundit and the Hofts perpetuated the debunked narrative, publishing stories and promoting them on social media even after they were aware it had been disproven, the lawsuit says. Among other things, the suit says, their stories accused Freeman and Moss of conspiring to get observers out of a room where ballots were being counted, adding illegal ballots to the count and running the same ballots through scanners multiple times.
The falsehoods "have not only devastated their personal and professional reputations but instigated a deluge of intimidation, harassment, and threats that has forced them to change their phone numbers, delete their online accounts, and fear for their physical safety," the lawsuit read.
Freeman and Moss have also filed defamation lawsuits against right-wing cable news channel One America News Network and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. They settled with OAN in 2022.
In 2023, a jury awarded the mother and daughter $148 million in damages against Giuliani. The Trump ally is trying to appeal that decision.