Two Georgia election workers have filed a lawsuit against a conservative news network and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.In their complaint, the election workers say that Giuliani and right-wing news site “One America News Network” defamed them by suggesting they engaged in ballot fraud during the 2020 presidential election.According to The Associated Press, this is the second lawsuit filed by plaintiffs Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss.Both filings, says The Associated Press, relate to since-debunked claims that Freeman and Moss “introduced suitcases of illegal ballots” and committed other acts of election fraud.In their latest suit, Freeman and Moss—a mother-daughter duo—saying that One America News Network continued to circulate false claims about them even after a Georgia elections investigation cleared them of any wrongdoing.Giuliani, meanwhile—who served as one of former President Donald Trump’s personal attorneys—regularly appeared on One America News Network, where he “continued to publish and amplify the lie.”MarketWatch notes that the Georgia election quickly became a target for conservative conspiracy theorists in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s defeat in the 2020 presidential election.

A 2016 image of a ballot drop box in Boulder County, Colorado. Image via Wikimedia Commons via Flickr/user:pasa47 . (CCA-BY-2.0).

Angry at having suffered a loss in a typically red state, Trump began making unproven, unsubstantiated claims that widespread voter fraud in Georgia had led to defeat.Shortly after the election, Trump instructed Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” votes for him.In his phone call with Raffensperger—which the secretary of state recorded, fearing that Trump was trying to pressure him into committing an illegal act—Trump mentioned Freeman by name, calling her “a vote scammer, a professional vote scammer and hustler.”Freeman, notes The Associated Press, worked as a temporary election worker during the 2020 election; she was tasked with verifying signatures on absentee ballots, and then preparing them to be counted and processed.Moss, meanwhile, has worked for the Fulton County elections department for nearly a decade.After Trump began making his unfounded allegations against Freeman and Moss, they received “an immediate onslaught of violent and racist threats and harassment.”The lawsuit suggests that Giuliani and One America News Network’s propagation of Trump’s conspiracy theory has profoundly impacted them, making it impossible for them to “live normal lives.”The complaint seeks punitive damages, as well as a court order requiring the defendants to remove or retract all false statements about Freeman and Moss from their websites and other media outlets.

Sources

2 Georgia poll workers sue Giuliani, OAN over election conspiracy theoriesTwo Georgia election workers file second suit over fraud claims, this time against One America News Network and Rudy GiulianiTwo Georgia election workers sue Giuliani and One America News, claiming election lies prompted severe harassment