Georgia election officials win defamation lawsuit against far-right website Gateway Pundit

Georgia election officials Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss scored a legal victory Thursday when they settled a defamation lawsuit with The Gateway Pundit, the far-right news site that falsely accused them of interfering with state polls. the 2020 presidential election.

The Gateway Pundit was the first site to publicly identify the mother and daughter, accused by former President Donald Trump and Rudy Guiliani of voter fraud on election night in Fulton County, Georgia.

The allegation that the two men pulled “suitcases” of ballots from under a table, away from poll watchers, was debunked almost immediately. But the conspiracy theory continues to circulate among far-right groups and Trump allies who believe the 2020 election was “stolen.”

As of Thursday afternoon, nearly 20 articles accusing Freeman and Moss of ballot tampering were removed from the Gateway Pundit, according to a Guardian review.

The settlement was filed in a Missouri circuit court, where Freeman and Moss had sued the website for defamation. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed in the court filing.

Although both men were cleared of any wrongdoing years ago, the allegations continued to have a negative impact on their lives.

The lawsuit says the lies “not only devastated their personal and professional reputations, but also triggered a barrage of intimidation, harassment and threats that forced them to change their phone numbers, delete their online accounts and to fear for their physical safety.”

Freeman and Moss are also still trying to collect the nearly $150 million Guiliani owes them, after winning a separate defamation lawsuit against him.

At a hearing last year in Guiliani’s case, Freeman tearfully described how his life had been affected by the allegations.

She had to flee her home and live in her car after strangers came to her door with bullhorns, threatening the lives of Freeman and her daughter. She received messages on her online store threatening her with lynching.

“I took it as if they were going to hang me with their ropes on my street,” Freeman said. “I was scared. I didn’t know if they were going to kill me.

The Gateway Pundit’s legal troubles don’t stop with Freeman and Moss. The company still faces a defamation lawsuit from Eric Coomer, a former Dominion Voting Systems employee who was falsely accused of rigging the 2020 election in favor of President Joe Biden.

The site unsuccessfully tried to delay Moss and Freeman’s case earlier this year by filing for bankruptcy. Despite filing for bankruptcy and multiple lawsuits, the site continues to publish hundreds of articles containing false claims about election fraud.

Melissa Cruz is an elections reporter focusing on voter access issues for the USA TODAY Network. You can reach her at [email protected] or on X, formerly Twitter, at @MelissaWrites22.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Georgia election workers win lawsuit against Gateway Pundit