- Ruby Freeman and Wandrea "Shaye" Moss are suing Giuliani and OAN for defamation.
- Their lawsuit said Giuliani and the network of falsely claiming they engaged in election fraud.
- They said the "campaign of malicious lies" destroyed their reputations and made them fear for their safety.
Two Georgia election workers are suing the former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani and the pro-Trump One America News network for falsely accusing them of committing election fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
In a lawsuit filed in Washington, DC, on Thursday, lawyers for Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea "Shaye" Moss said the "campaign of malicious lies" destroyed their reputations and led them to fear for their physical safety.
Freeman and Moss worked as ballot counters in Fulton County, Georgia, during the 2020 presidential election.
Joe Biden narrowly won the state of Georgia, and then-President Donald Trump and his allies baselessly claimed the election was fraudulent, despite three recounts recertifying Biden's victory.
The complaint alleged that OAN and Giuliani, who frequently appeared on the channel, broadcast false claims that Freeman and Moss illegally counted ballots to change the outcome of the election.
It specifically referred to a video published on Twitter by the Trump campaign in December 2020, which claimed to show Georgia poll workers — later identified at Freeman and Moss — producing suitcases filled with illegal ballots.
Georgia election officials publicly debunked the claims, explaining that the "suitcases" were containers typically used to secure ballots.
The complaint said that despite this, OAN and Giuliani continued to repeat the false claims, publicly named Freeman and Moss, and leveled additional accusations of criminal fraud against them.
Freeman and Moss are suing Giuliani, OAN, and the network's CEO Robert Herring, president Charles Herring, and reporter Chanel Rion for defamation.
"As a result of their vital service, Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss have become the objects of vitriol, threats, and harassment," the lawsuit said.
"They found themselves in this unenviable position not based on anything they did, but instead because of a campaign of malicious lies designed to accuse them of interfering with a fair and impartial election."
Because of the false allegations, the lawsuit says that Freeman and Moss received "violent and racist threats and harassment," and were physically intimidated.
The lawsuit also said that on January 6, 2021, a crowd surrounded Freeman's house, and at one stage she had to leave her home at the recommendation of the FBI, and did not return for two months.
Strangers also showed up at Moss' grandmother's home, and attempted to enter the house and make a citizen's arrest on at least two occasions, the lawsuit said.
As a result of the false allegations, the lawsuit says the women's reputations were destroyed, and they suffered a "devastating emotional toll."
The defamation lawsuit is the second filed by Moss and Freeman, who this month also sued the far-right website Gateway Pundit for falsely claiming they manipulated ballots.
OAN and Giuliani are also already facing defamation lawsuits brought by Dominion Voting Systems over election conspiracy theories.