Part 2 of 3
G. Defendants Published the Statements With Knowledge of Their Falsity or Serious Doubts About Their Truth96. Defendants knew that their statements about Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss were not true or had serious doubts about their truth.
97. Defendants were aware of the numerous statements by Georgia officials disproving the portrayal of misconduct that had been advanced by the Trump lawyers, and they also knew that multiple fact-checking organizations had confirmed the facts as presented by the Georgia officials. Defendants disregarded the reliable sources refuting their claims and had no credible basis for the false allegations they continued to make.
98. At no point in publishing their many stories about Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss did Defendants ever attempt to contact Plaintiffs to obtain their account of the events being reported. Nor did Defendants contact for corroboration other obvious available sources, and they specifically avoided contacting sources who had evidence to disprove their lies.
99. Defendants ignored the truth because they had a predetermined story in mind that would continue to attract readers—that widespread voter fraud would taint the 2020 presidential election. Even before the vote counting began, defendants cultivated this narrative.95 In November 2020, Defendants published multiple articles focusing on baseless claims of election fraud in several states.96
100. Defendants advanced this predetermined fictitious storyline in the face of the facts because it was financially advantageous to do so. They were motivated to publish lies about Plaintiffs because lying about the election was more profitable than telling the truth.
101. Defendants consciously avoided the truth in order to profit from the repeated publication of scandalous material. The Gateway Pundit’s articles about voter fraud throughout the 2020 election cycle increased its readership, reach, and engagement. Its articles about voter fraud, in particular, performed well, and it earned increased advertising revenue by publishing and republishing such well-performing falsehoods about Plaintiffs.
102. Defendants additionally hoped that repeating their preconceived narrative would affect the outcome of the presidential election.
H. Defendants Caused Substantial Reputational Harm With Their False Statements About Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss That Constitute Defamation Per Se103. Defendants’ falsely stated or implied that (a) Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss planned and carried out with others a plot to “steal the election” and “flip Georgia” for Joe Biden; (b) Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss helped to fake a water main break that was used as a cover to bring suitcases stuffed with fraudulent ballots into the vote tabulation center; (c) Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss engaged in a criminal conspiracy to exclude observers during the counting of ballots so that they could engage in election fraud; (d) Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss criminally introduced “suitcases” of illegal ballots into the ballot counting process when no observers were present; (e) Ms. Freeman fraudulently triple-counted the same ballots by running them through a tabulator three times; and (f) Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss committed election fraud and other crimes for which they are subject to arrest and imprisonment. These claims are false and constitute defamation per se.
104. Given the nature of Plaintiffs’ employment with the Registration and Elections Department of Fulton County, Defendants’ claims that Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss participated in a conspiracy to fraudulently overturn a democratic election would tend to injure them in their trade, office, or profession: A reputation for integrity is a requirement for workers in a profession whose responsibility is to accurately and legitimately tabulate and report elections results while maintaining public confidence in elections.
105. Defendants also stated that Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss participated in criminal activity punishable by law. Defendants labeled both Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss as “crooks” and claimed that “nobody did more to steal the election for Joe Biden than this mother-daughter combo.”97 Defendants asserted that the actions of Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss were “illegal” and that “the Georgia police or Bill Barr’s DOJ may want to pay Ruby Freeman a visit.”98
106. Published on a website with nearly three million unique visitors per month, Defendants’ stories did cause and continue to cause substantial reputational harm to Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss.
107. Defendants are directly responsible for the reputational harm that Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss experienced. Though the initial claims by the Trump legal team were based only on short selections of security footage and did not name any individual Fulton County election workers, “[t]he Gateway Pundit was first to identify Ruby Freeman [and] her daughter Wandrea “Shaye” Moss . . . in the infamous suitcase ballot hoist [sic],” as the Defendants themselves boast.99
I. Impact of Defendants’ Campaign Against Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss108. Defendants repeatedly published the full names of Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss, in addition to numerous images of Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss, the name of Ms. Freeman’s business, and Ms. Freeman’s social media account information. In so doing, Defendants were fully aware that their readers would target Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss in response to their stories. Defendants even urged their readers not to “confuse [Ms. Freeman’s business] with a similar business in Snellville!”100
109. As a direct result of Defendants’ campaign of lies, Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss began receiving—almost immediately—an onslaught of extremely violent and graphic threats and dangerous harassment.
Ms. Freeman110. As Defendants’ false accusations began to spread across the internet, Ms. Freeman received at least 420 emails and seventy-five text messages, including one that read, “We know where you live, we coming to get you.”
111. Ms. Freeman sought intervention from the local police; a local officer answered more than twenty harassing calls on Ms. Freeman’s cell phone. Despite these efforts, Ms. Freeman was ultimately forced to change her phone number and email address.
112. On multiple occasions, strangers camped out at Ms. Freeman’s home and/or knocked on her door. When Ms. Freeman was not home or would not answer the door, these strangers would sometimes also harass her neighbors. Strangers were coming to her home so frequently that the local police agreed to add her address to their patrols of the area.
113. During this time, numerous pizza deliveries showed up at her home that she and her family had never ordered. This is an often-chronicled result of being “doxxed”—the term for when strangers post and share a target’s personal information as a means to organize a coordinated harassment campaign.
114. Christmas cards were mailed to Ms. Freeman’s address with messages like, “Ruby please report to the FBI and tell them you committed voter fraud. If not you will be sorry,” and “You deserve to go to jail, you worthless piece of shit whore.”
115. The level of harassment Ms. Freeman received at her home led the FBI to conclude that she would not be safe in her home on beginning on January 6, 2021, the date of former President Trump’s infamous rally and the subsequent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, and continuing at least through Inauguration Day, January 20, 2021.
116. On January 6, 2021, a crowd surrounded Ms. Freeman’s house, some on foot, some in vehicles, others equipped with a bullhorn. Fortunately, Ms. Freeman had followed the FBI’s advice and had temporarily relocated from her home. She was not able to return for two months.
117. Since returning home, Ms. Freeman has had to purchase eleven cameras and three motion sensors in an effort to safeguard her own home.
118. Ms. Freeman was also forced to deactivate the social media pages for herself and her business, Lady Ruby’s Unique Treasures, a pop-up clothing boutique. Though she has long been a local entrepreneur, she was forced to shutter her business when she was unable to attend public events or conduct online marketing through social media.
119. The reputational impacts of Defendants’ lies continue to be felt across Ms. Freeman’s social and professional networks. After being publicly accused of crimes, she has lost friendships.
120. When people recognize her in public and call out her name, Ms. Freeman is fearful. Her experiences over the months since The Gateway Pundit’s defamation campaign began have taught Ms. Freeman to be distrustful of strangers and concerned for her safety.
121. To this day, Ms. Freeman continues to receive threatening communications referencing Defendants’ defamation. On November 13, 2021, she received an email accusing her of treason, insinuating she would soon be serving jail time, and including a link to an article about election fraud in Georgia from The Gateway Pundit.
Ms. Moss122. The day after The Gateway Pundit’s campaign of falsehoods began, Ms. Moss’s then fourteen-year-old son informed her that numerous calls were coming into Ms. Moss’s old phone, which he was using at the time. When he answered the calls, he was bombarded with racial slurs and threats of violence. One caller stated that her son “should hang alongside [his] nigger momma.”
123. These harassing calls continued for months and were so numerous and disturbing that her son eventually got into the habit of turning the cell phone off. However, the Wi-Fi hotspot feature on the phone was his only method of accessing the internet for school and all of his classes were virtual because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. After months of this abuse, Ms. Moss learned her son had failed multiple classes, and as a result, Ms. Moss had to pay for several summer school courses.
124. Defendants’ defamation also caused Ms. Moss to suffer an onslaught of online harassment. She received dozens of messages through Facebook, LinkedIn, and Pinterest, many of which threatened violence. These messages did not merely suggest Ms. Moss lose her job but insisted that she deserved to die and would be killed in retribution for her “treason.” She has since deleted her Pinterest and LinkedIn accounts.
125. Because Ms. Moss had previously lived with her grandmother, it was her grandmother’s address that harassers found and exploited. As they did with Ms. Freeman, these harassers repeatedly sent unwanted pizzas to Ms. Moss’s grandmother’s house.
126. On at least two occasions, strangers showed up at her grandmother’s home and attempted to push into the house in order to make a “citizens’ arrest.” On these occasions, Ms. Moss’s grandmother, who is in her mid-seventies, called her in a panic, confused and scared for her safety.
127. The impacts of Defendants’ lies also followed Ms. Moss at work. The general email addresses used by the public to contact the Fulton County elections offices would forward incoming emails to Ms. Moss and many of her colleagues. As a result, Ms. Moss and her colleagues received, directly in their work inboxes, harassing emails sent to those public email addresses.
128. Inspired by the demonstrably false conspiracy theory pushed by Defendants, people have also protested about Ms. Moss outside of her Fulton County workplace, demanding she be fired from her job.
129. This whirlwind of negative attention around Ms. Moss has left her feeling fearful and ashamed in an office where she has worked since 2012. Before the 2020 general election, she generally enjoyed the parts of her job that allowed her to work with and assist the public. Now, even when she is assisting constituents over the phone, she begins to sweat and feel anxious if they ask her name. She is afraid that when people hear her name, they will think she is a fraud and a cheater.
130. Like her mother, Ms. Moss is now fearful whenever people recognize her in public. As a result, Ms. Moss has largely retreated from social and public life. She has gone as far as to avoid the grocery store, opting to have groceries delivered in order to avoid it. She feels trapped by the unshakable fear that there are unknown people after her who want her dead.
131. Over the last year, Ms. Moss has suffered from disrupted sleep and has gained fifty pounds as a result of the stress caused by Defendants’ campaign of lies. The onslaught of threats that Plaintiffs have experienced and the necessary measures they have been forced to take to protect themselves are the direct result of Defendants’ defamatory conduct. Plaintiffs have and will continue to experience serious and severe emotional distress as a result. The harm Defendants have caused to Plaintiffs’ reputations, privacy, safety, and earnings and other pecuniary loss is immense.
J. Plaintiffs’ Cease and Desist Letter and Defendants’ Failure to Retract132. In an effort to attempt to mitigate the harm caused by the publication of the false statements in Defendants’ stories, Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss engaged legal counsel, Dowd Bennett, LLC, and DuBose Miller, LLC to seek retraction from Defendants.
133. On November 22, 2021, counsel sent Defendants a letter demanding that they retract and take down the numerous defamatory statements they have published and continue to publish about Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss.
134. As of the date of this filing, Defendants have not responded to that letter.
FIRST CLAIM
(Defamation of Ms. Freeman)135. Plaintiffs incorporate and re-allege all paragraphs preceding and following as if fully set forth herein.
136. Beginning on December 3, 2020, Defendants published a series of false and defamatory statements of fact about Ms. Freeman, including by and through The Gateway Pundit’s own agents making the statements themselves; and by republishing the statements on The Gateway Pundit’s website and social media accounts, and the social media accounts of its agents, as detailed extensively above. Those statements include, but are not limited to, the following nonexhaustive list:
a) In their December 3, 2020, article published at 1:11 p.m., Defendants made the following false statements:
Poll watchers were kicked out of the State Farm Arena tabulation center on election night after a burst pipe caused flooding.
…
We now know that a pipe never burst. It was all a lie in order to kick out poll watchers while a few crooks stayed behind to count illegal ballots for Joe Biden.
b) In their December 3, 2020, article published at 1:11 p.m., Defendants made the following false statement, which they republished verbatim seven (7) times on December 3, 2020 at 8:49 p.m.; December 4, 2020 at 7:35 a.m., 8:53 a.m., and 1:51 p.m.; December 7, 2020 at 7:15 a.m.; and December 8, 2020 at 7:20 a.m. and 1:11 p.m.101:
A few “workers” stayed behind and were seen pulling suitcases full of ballots out from under tables to be tabulated!
c) In their December 3, 2020, article published at 8:49 p.m., Defendants made the following false statement, which they republished verbatim six (6) times on December 4, 2020 at 7:35 a.m., 8:53 a.m., and 1:51 p.m.; December 7, 2020 at 7:15 a.m.; and December 8, 2020 at 7:20 a.m. and 1:11 p.m.:
Cristina Laila reported on the explosive video that was revealed during the Georgia ballot counting at the State Farm Arena where crooked Democrats pulled out suitcases full of ballots and began counting those ballots without election monitors in the room.
d) In their December 3, 2020, article published at 8:49 p.m., Defendants made the following false statement, which they republished verbatim five (5) times on December 4, 2020 at 7:35 a.m., 8:53 a.m., and 1:51 p.m.; December 7, 2020 at 7:15 a.m.; and December 8, 2020 at 7:20 a.m.:
We identified one of the operatives [last/Thursday] night who was caught on video counting illegal ballots from a suitcase stashed under a table!
e) In their December 3, 2020, article published at 8:49 p.m., Defendants made the following false statement, which they republished verbatim four (4) times on December 4, 2020 at 7:35 a.m., 8:53 a.m., and 1:51 p.m.; and December 8, 2020 at 7:20 a.m.:
[/quote] As you can see from the video one woman in a purple top was filmed helping pull out the ballots and then sitting down to count the ballots.[/quote]
f) In their December 3, 2020, article published at 8:49 p.m., Defendants made the following false statements, which they republished four (4) times on December 4, 2020 at 7:35 a.m., 8:53 a.m.,102 and 1:51 p.m.103; and December 8, 2020 at 7:20 a.m.:
One woman in the video is wearing a purple top.
She later appeared in the suitcase video!
The woman in the purple made a mistake and left her purse on her desk advertising her business.
Her name is Ruby Freeman.
And she made the mistake of advertising her purse on her desk the same night she was involved in voter fraud on a MASSIVE SCALE.
Her T-shirt says “Lady Ruby” and her purse says, “LaRuby” which is her company.
This was not a very smart move.
Her company is called “LaRuby’s Unique Treasures.”
It’s on her LinkedIn page!
Ruby’s purse was a hit and several fans wrote her on her LinkedIn page after they saw her and her purse on TV.
They then commented on her LinkedIn page.104
g) Defendants end their December 3, 2020, article published at 8:49 p.m. with the following false statements:
Maybe the Georgia police or Bill Barr’s DOJ may want to pay Ruby Freeman a visit.
…
CROOK GETS CAUGHT
h) In their December 4, 2020, article published at 8:53 a.m., Defendants made the following false statements, which they republished verbatim on June 19, 2021 at 8:31 p.m.:
Now there is video of Ruby Freeman filming herself entering the building to count Georgia ballots.
Ruby walks by several boxes of ballots just sitting around in the room.
The elections workers were each given their own secret cube.
Then Ruby goes to her desk and pulls out a tray of ballots on her desk.
There is NO supervisor or GOP observer anywhere in sight.
And then Ruby leaves the ballots on her desk as she goes to take a break.
This is suspicious activity. The State Farm Center was full of unsecured ballots and illegal conduct.
i) In their December 4, 2020, article published at 1:51 p.m., Defendants made the following false statements:
And now there is video of Ruby secretly passing something to her daughter during the ballot counting.
It is not clear what was passed. Some readers say it was a USB stick but it is not clear what they passed to each other.
It sure looks like they were trying to hide this transaction.
j) In their December 4, 2020, article published at 5:45 p.m., Defendants made the following false statements:
The mother – daughter team of ballot counters in Atlanta really overdid their fraud. We saw last night how they stuck around and counted ballots after kicking Republicans out of the State Farm Center on a fake water main break hoax.
We also saw the mother and daughter pass an object the size of a thumb drive between each other in a suspicious manner[.]
Now we have evidence mother Ruby sent the same stack of votes through a tabulator in the State Farm Center three times. This is illegal.
The corrupt Republican politicians in Georgia are giving the election to Joe Biden. Besides them, nobody did more to steal the election for Joe Biden than this mother – daughter combo. The good people in Georgia need to stand up.
k) In their December 6, 2020, article published at 9:23 p.m., Defendants made the following false statements, which they republished on December 7, 2020 at 8:29 a.m.:
Next it was uncovered that a mother and daughter team, Ruby Freeman and her daughter “Shaye” Moss as well as a couple others, stuck around after sending everyone home and started running ballots through tabulators. Ballots were pulled out from under a table that were previously covered up and processed with no Republican observers.
The mother – daughter team have become infamous in the annals of voter corruption[.]
l) In their December 7, 2020, article published at 8:29 a.m., Defendants made the following false statements, which they republished on December 8, 2020 at 8:59 a.m.105:
Ralph Jones, Sr. was identified as the third suspect in the Fulton County Georgia suitcase scandal.
** Ralph led a team of operatives in carrying out a massive voter fraud scandal on election night at the State Farm Center in Atlanta, Georgia.
** Ralph and his team plotted to remove ALL elections observers (Republicans) from the counting room so they could roll out their suitcases full of Joe Biden ballots and run them through the machine.
...
They sent everyone home!
...
** The elections officials used the “water main break” to say there was a delay in counting and they used that to send people home — except for the suitcase gang.
** Then Ralph Jones, Sr., Ruby Freeman and her daughter Shaye Ross went to work rolling out the hidden suitcases of ballots stashed under the table and hidden from view.
** It was their actions that gave Joe Biden the spike in unexplained votes in Georgia on Wednesday morning.
** It appears this was a conspiracy to lie to the public including local news, to remove observers from the center and then to commit their hidden suitcase ballot fraud.
m) Defendants end their December 7, 2020, article published at 8:29 a.m. with the following false statements:
We know [the alleged pipe burst at State Farm Arena] was a lie because there was NEVER a work order filed and the water department never received a call.
It never happened!
But it gave Ralph and Ruby and Shaye cover to complete their scam on Georgia and America!
n) In their December 8, 2020, article published at 7:20 a.m., Defendants made the following false statements:
Shaye told everyone to go home.
Then Shaye, her mother and a couple others including Ralph Jones, Sr. were filmed taking “suitcases” of ballots hidden under a table out to be tabulated. This was right before Joe Biden got his surprise spike in ballots.
And now the liberal media and their fake “fact-checkers” are lying about the incredible incident caught on video!
o) In their December 23, 2020, article published at 8:40 a.m., Defendants made the following false statements:
The Gateway Pundit was first to identify Ruby Freeman, her daughter Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, and their boss Ralph Jones, Sr. in the infamous suitcase ballot hoist [sic].
We later reported on Ruby Freeman running the same batch of ballots through the counting machines at least three times after these Democrat operatives cleared the room of observers!
...
Shaye Moss is the same person who called out for observers to go home late on election night before the ballot hoist [sic].
Ralph Jones, Sr. is ON AUDIO telling reporters he was going to shut down the State Farm Center early and send observers home. This was BEFORE the suitcase ballot hoist [sic]!
It was a carefully planned event!
They had NO IDEA they would get caught!
At this time there is no evidence that FBI or the Georgia Bureau of Investigations have interviewed or arrested Ruby Freeman, Shaye Ross, or Ralph Jones, Sr.
They were able to flip Georgia for Beijing Biden by their actions.
Why is the FBI or DOJ not involved?
This tells you everything you need to know about your federal government.
p) In their January 3, 2021, article published at 6:20 p.m., Defendants made the following false statements:
President Trump: We have at least 18,000, that’s on tape. We had them counted very painstakingly. 18,000 voters having to with BEEP [in red] (Ruby Freeman). She’s a vote scammer, a professional vote scammer and hustler. BEEP [in red] (Ruby Freeman) that is the tape that is shown all over the world. It makes everybody look bad, you, me and everybody else. Number one, they said very clearly, and it’s been reported that they said that there’s a water main break. Everybody fled the area. And then they came back. BEEP [in red] (Ruby Freeman) and her daughter and a few people.
q) In their June 19, 2021, article published at 8:31 p.m., Defendants made the following false statements:
This follows news first reported by The Gateway Pundit that election operative Ruby Freeman was also caught tripe [sic] counting stacks of votes late at night at the counting center after GOP observers were sent home.
It was a carefully planned event!
They had NO IDEA they would get caught!
On December 4th TGP reported with video on anti-Trump ballot counter Ruby Freeman working in a private cube with trays of ballots, walking past open boxes of ballots, working alone with NO ELECTION OBSERVERS IN SIGHT!
This is the DEFINITION OF CHEATING!
…
The Democrat operatives were running a voter fraud factory inside the State Farm Center on Election Day and into Election Week!
r) In their August 14, 2021, article published at 9:15 a.m., Defendants made the following false statements:
We first discovered Ruby Freeman and her daughter Shaye Moss in December when The Gateway Pundit first reported that these two election workers took ballots out from under a table on Election night and jammed thousands of ballots into the tabulators numerous times.
This was after all of the election observers were sent home for the night. This was also after Trump had accumulated what experts said was an insurmountable lead in the state.
We revealed first that the ballots taken out from under tables on Election night were pushed into tabulators up to three times each.
…
This is not good for Ruby and her daughter.
It’s also pathetic that these two are not in jail already. Their crimes were videotaped!
137. The defamatory meanings of Defendants’ false statements are apparent from the face of the publications, refer to Ms. Freeman by name, are accompanied by images of Ms. Freeman, and/or are understood to be about her.
138. The statements authored and published by Defendants about Ms. Freeman are reasonably understood to state or imply that she:
a) Planned and carried out with others a plot to “steal the election” and “flip Georgia” for Joe Biden;
b) Helped to fake a water main break that was used as a cover to bring suitcases stuffed with fraudulent ballots into the vote tabulation center;
c) Engaged in a criminal conspiracy to exclude observers during the counting of ballots so that election fraud could be committed;
d) Criminally introduced illegal ballots taken from the hidden suitcases into the ballot counting process when no observers were present;
e) Fraudulently triple-counted ballots by running them through a tabulator three times; and
f) Committed election fraud and other crimes for which she is subject to arrest and imprisonment.
139. Each of these statements and implications is false and defamatory.
140. Each of these statements was read by millions of visitors to The Gateway Pundit website, as well as social media users who read social media posts shared by Defendants.
141. Each of these false statements was published with actual malice, i.e., with knowledge of its falsity or with reckless disregard as to its truth.
142. Defendants failed to contact and question obvious available sources for corroboration; disregarded reliable sources refuting their claims; had no credible basis for the false allegations made; and published their allegations in a manner to create false inferences.
143. Defendants had both political and financial motives for promulgating lies about Plaintiffs.
144. Defendants did not neutrally report the allegations about Ms. Freeman that were advanced by Trump lawyers and promptly disproven by Georgia election officials. Rather, they endorsed and adopted the allegations as their own, publishing and republishing them for months with full knowledge of their falsity or reckless disregard for their truth.
145. Defendants had no applicable privilege or legal authorization to make these false and defamatory statements, or if they did, they abused it.
146. Defendants repeated and embellished the false accusations without ever attempting to verify them and invented and published defamatory lies about Ms. Freeman without once seeking comment from her.
147. Defendants’ defamatory statements were inherently improbable to begin with and have only become more improbable over time.
148. Defendants have never retracted their defamatory statements and those statements remain published on The Gateway Pundit to this day. Even after Plaintiffs specifically requested that Defendants retract their defamatory statements, Defendants took no action, further evidencing their actual malice.
149. Defendants’ statements and implications about Ms. Freeman constitute defamation per se in that they damaged her in her trade, office, or profession and claimed that she participated in criminal activity punishable by law and labeled her a “crook.”
150. Defendants acted with willful misconduct, malice, fraud, wantonness, oppression, and/or entire want of care which would raise the presumption of conscious indifference to consequences, and they specifically intended to cause Ms. Freeman harm.
151. Defendants’ statements damaged Ms. Freeman’s reputation in the general public, in her profession, in her neighborhood, and with friends, relatives, and neighbors.
152. As a direct and proximate result of Defendants’ conduct, Ms. Freeman has suffered significant general, actual, consequential, and special damages including, without limitation, impairment of reputation and standing in the community, personal humiliation, mental anguish and suffering, emotional distress, stress, anxiety, lost earnings, and other pecuniary loss. Among other things, Ms. Freeman lost income when she was forced to shutter her online business.
SECOND CLAIM
(Defamation of Ms. Moss)153. Plaintiffs incorporate and re-allege all paragraphs preceding and following as if fully set forth herein.
154. Beginning on December 3, 2020, Defendants published a series of false and defamatory statements of fact about Ms. Moss, including by and through The Gateway Pundit’s own agents making the statements themselves; and by republishing the statements on The Gateway Pundit’s website and social media accounts, and the social media accounts of its agents, as detailed extensively above. Those statements include, but are not limited to, the following nonexhaustive list:
a) In their December 3, 2020, article published at 1:11 p.m., Defendants made the following false statements:
Poll watchers were kicked out of the State Farm Arena tabulation center on election night after a burst pipe caused flooding.
…
We now know that a pipe never burst. It was all a lie in order to kick out poll watchers while a few crooks stayed behind to count illegal ballots for Joe Biden.
b) In a December 3, 2020, article published at 1:11 p.m., Defendants made the following false statement, which they republished verbatim seven (7) times on December 3, 2020 at 8:49 p.m.; December 4, 2020 at 7:35 a.m., 8:53 a.m., 1;51 p.m.; December 7, 2020 at 7:15 a.m.; and December 8, 2020 at 7:20 a.m. and 1:11 p.m.:
A few “workers” stayed behind and were seen pulling suitcases full of ballots out from under tables to be tabulated!
c) In their December 3, 2020, article published at 8:49 p.m., Defendants made the following false statement, which they republished verbatim six (6) times on December 4, 2020 at 7:35 a.m., 8:53 a.m., and 1:51 p.m.; December 7, 2020 at 7:15 a.m.; and December 8, 2020 at 7:20 a.m. and 1:11 p.m.:
Cristina Laila reported on the explosive video that was revealed during the Georgia ballot counting at the State Farm Arena where crooked Democrats pulled out suitcases full of ballots and began counting those ballots without election monitors in the room.
d) In their December 3, 2020, article published at 8:49 p.m., Defendants made the following false statement, which they republished verbatim on December 4, 2020 at 7:35 a.m.:
Local 11 News covered the story from the State Farm Arena that a pipe had burst. (This later was proven to be complete fraud and an excuse to kick out the GOP election observers!)
e) In their December 4, 2020, article published at 7:35 a.m., Defendants made the following false statement, which they republished verbatim on December 8, 2020 at 7:20 a.m.:
“Shaye” [was] the woman in blonde [pigtails/braids] [who was filmed] removing suitcases of ballots from under a table after GOP observers were evacuated from the room and told to go home.
f) In their December 4, 2020, article published at 1:51 p.m., Defendants made the following false statements:
And now there is video of Ruby secretly passing something to her daughter during the ballot counting.
It is not clear what was passed. Some readers say it was a USB stick but it is not clear what they passed to each other.
It sure looks like they were trying to hide this transaction.
g) In their December 4, 2020, article published at 5:45 p.m., Defendants made the following false statements:
The mother – daughter team of ballot counters in Atlanta really overdid their fraud. We saw last night how they stuck around and counted ballots after kicking Republicans out of the State Farm Center on a fake water main break hoax.
We also saw the mother and daughter pass an object the size of a thumb drive between each other in a suspicious manner[.]
Now we have evidence mother Ruby sent the same stack of votes through a tabulator in the State Farm Center three times. This is illegal.
The corrupt Republican politicians in Georgia are giving the election to Joe Biden. Besides them, nobody did more to steal the election for Joe Biden than this mother – daughter combo. The good people in Georgia need to stand up.
h) In their December 7, 2020, article published at 7:15 a.m., Defendants made the following false statements:
And [Ruby’s] daughter Wandrea “Shaye” Moss was later identified as her supervisor who was helping cart out the hidden ballots in the suitcases to be counted after all of the GOP observers and media was sent home for a “water main” break.
It was all a fraud.
i) In their December 7, 2020, article published at 8:29 a.m., Defendants made the following false statements, which they republished on December 8, 2020 at 8:59 a.m.:
Ralph Jones, Sr. was identified as the third suspect in the Fulton County Georgia suitcase scandal.
** Ralph led a team of operatives in carrying out a massive voter fraud scandal on election night at the State Farm Center in Atlanta, Georgia.
** Ralph and his team plotted to remove ALL elections observers (Republicans) from the counting room so they could roll out their suitcases full of Joe Biden ballots and run them through the machine.
...
They sent everyone home!
...
** The elections officials used the “water main break” to say there was a delay in counting and they used that to send people home — except for the suitcase gang.
** Then Ralph Jones, Sr., Ruby Freeman and her daughter Shaye Ross went to work rolling out the hidden suitcases of ballots stashed under the table and hidden from view.
** It was their actions that gave Joe Biden the spike in unexplained votes in Georgia on Wednesday morning.
** It appears this was a conspiracy to lie to the public including local news, to remove observers from the center and then to commit their hidden suitcase ballot fraud.
j) Defendants end their December 7, 2020, article published at 8:29 a.m. with the following false statements:
We know [the alleged pipe burst at State Farm Arena] was a lie because there was NEVER a work order filed and the water department never received a call.
It never happened!
But it gave Ralph and Ruby and Shaye cover to complete their scam on Georgia and America!
k) In their December 8, 2020, article published at 7:20 a.m., Defendants made the following false statements:
Shaye told everyone to go home.
Then Shaye, her mother and a couple others including Ralph Jones, Sr. were filmed taking “suitcases” of ballots hidden under a table out to be tabulated. This was right before Joe Biden got his surprise spike in ballots.
And now the liberal media and their fake “fact-checkers” are lying about the incredible incident caught on video!
l) In their December 23, 2020, article published at 8:40 a.m., Defendants made the following false statements:
The Gateway Pundit was first to identify Ruby Freeman, her daughter Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, and their boss Ralph Jones, Sr. in the infamous suitcase ballot hoist [sic].
We later reported on Ruby Freeman running the same batch of ballots through the counting machines at least three times after these Democrat operatives cleared the room of observers!
...
Shaye Moss is the same person who called out for observers to go home late on election night before the ballot hoist.
Ralph Jones, Sr. is ON AUDIO telling reporters he was going to shut down the State Farm Center early and send observers home. This was BEFORE the suitcase ballot hoist[sic]!
It was a carefully planned event!
They had NO IDEA they would get caught!
At this time there is no evidence that FBI or the Georgia Bureau of Investigations have interviewed or arrested Ruby Freeman, Shaye Ross, or Ralph Jones, Sr.
They were able to flip Georgia for Beijing Biden by their actions.
Why is the FBI or DOJ not involved?
This tells you everything you need to know about your federal government.
m) In their January 3, 2021, article published at 6:20 p.m., Defendants made the following false statements:
President Trump: We have at least 18,000, that’s on tape. We had them counted very painstakingly. 18,000 voters having to with BEEP [in red] (Ruby Freeman). She’s a vote scammer, a professional vote scammer and hustler. BEEP [in red] (Ruby Freeman) that is the tape that is shown all over the world. It makes everybody look bad, you, me and everybody else. Number one, they said very clearly, and it’s been reported that they said that there’s a water main break. Everybody fled the area. And then they came back. BEEP [in red] (Ruby Freeman) and her daughter and a few people.
n) In their June 19, 2021, article published at 8:31 p.m., Defendants made the following false statement:
The Democrat operatives were running a voter fraud factory inside the State Farm Center on Election Day and into Election Week!
o) In their August 14, 2021, article published at 9:15 a.m., Defendants made the following false statements:
We first discovered Ruby Freeman and her daughter Shaye Moss in December when The Gateway Pundit first reported that these two election workers took ballots out from under a table on Election night and jammed thousands of ballots into the tabulators numerous times.
This was after all of the election observers were sent home for the night. This was also after Trump had accumulated what experts said was an insurmountable lead in the state.
We revealed first that the ballots taken out from under tables on Election night were pushed into tabulators up to three times each.
…
This is not good for Ruby and her daughter.
It’s also pathetic that these two are not in jail already. Their crimes were videotaped!
155. The defamatory meanings of Defendants’ false statements are apparent from the face of the publications, refer to Ms. Moss by name, are accompanied by images of Ms. Moss, and/or are understood to be about her.
156. The statements authored and published by Defendants about Ms. Moss are reasonably understood to state or imply that she:
a) Planned and carried out with others a plot to “steal the election” and “flip Georgia” for Joe Biden;
b) Helped to fake a water main break that was used as a cover to bring suitcases stuffed with fraudulent ballots into the vote tabulation center;
c) Engaged in a criminal conspiracy to exclude observers during the counting of ballots so that election fraud could be committed;
d) Criminally introduced illegal ballots taken from the hidden suitcases into the ballot counting process when no observers were present;
e) Committed election fraud and other crimes for which she is subject to arrest and imprisonment.
157. Each of these statements and implications is false and defamatory.
158. Each of these statements were read by millions of visitors to The Gateway Pundit website, as well as social media users who read social media posts shared by Defendants.
159. Each of these false statements was published with actual malice, i.e. with knowledge of its falsity or with reckless disregard as to its truth.
160. Defendants failed to contact and question obvious available sources for corroboration; disregarded reliable sources refuting their claims; had no credible basis for the false allegations made; and published their allegations in a manner to create false inferences.
161. Defendants had both political and financial motives for promulgating lies about Plaintiffs.
162. Defendants did not neutrally report the allegations about Ms. Moss that were advanced by Trump lawyers and promptly disproven by Georgia election officials. Rather, they endorsed and adopted the allegations as their own, publishing and republishing them for months with full knowledge of their falsity or reckless disregard for their truth.
163. Defendants had no applicable privilege or legal authorization to make these false and defamatory statements, or if they did, they abused it.
164. Defendants repeated and embellished the false accusations without ever attempting to verify them, and they invented and published defamatory lies about Ms. Moss without once seeking comment from her.
165. Defendants’ defamatory statements were inherently improbable to begin with and have only become more improbable over time.
166. Defendants have never retracted their defamatory statements and those statements remain published on The Gateway Pundit to this day. Even after Plaintiffs specifically requested that Defendants retract their defamatory statements, Defendants took no action, further evidencing their actual malice.
167. Defendants’ statements and implications about Ms. Moss constitute defamation per se in that they claim Ms. Moss participated in criminal activity punishable by law and labeled her a “crook.”
168. Defendants acted with willful misconduct, malice, fraud, wantonness, oppression, and/or entire want of care which would raise the presumption of conscious indifference to consequences, and they specifically intended to cause Ms. Moss harm.
169. Defendants’ statements damaged Ms. Moss’s reputation in the general public, in her profession, in her neighborhood, and with friends, relatives, and neighbors.
170. As a direct and proximate result of Defendants’ conduct, Ms. Moss has suffered significant general, actual, consequential, and special damages including, without limitation, impairment of reputation and standing in the community, personal humiliation, mental anguish and suffering, emotional distress, stress, anxiety, lost earnings, and other pecuniary loss. Among other things, Ms. Moss has had to pay for summer school for her son when he turned off his phone and failed classes as a result of the harassment prompted by Defendants’ defamation.
THIRD CLAIM
(Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress)171. Plaintiffs incorporate and re-allege all paragraphs preceding and following as if fully set forth herein.
172. Defendants’ months-long campaign of false and defamatory accusations directed specifically at Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss was malicious, wanton, and intentional.
173. Defendants carried out their campaign with actual malice as they either knew that their accusations were false or published them with reckless disregard for their truth.
174. Defendants wrongful conduct was extreme and outrageous, and it was calculated to cause harm to Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss. Defendants accused plaintiffs of stealing an election through a pre-conceived plan that would make them “infamous in the annals of voter corruption.” They exploited public fear and taunted the “good people of Georgia” to stand up to the corrupt “mother-daughter combo” who stole the election for Joe Biden. Defendants encouraged readers to retaliate and harass plaintiffs, publicizing that Ms. Freeman could be contacted through the LinkedIn page of her business and coyly warning not to confuse her business with another in Georgia with a similar name.
175. Defendants’ wrongful conduct is so outrageous in character and so extreme in degree that it is beyond all possible bounds of decency and is to be regarded as atrocious and utterly intolerable in a civilized community.
176. Defendants acted with willful misconduct, malice, fraud, wantonness, oppression, and/or entire want of care which would raise the presumption of conscious indifference to consequences, and they specifically intended to cause Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss harm.
177. Defendants’ wrongful conduct had its intended effect. All aspects of plaintiffs’ lives have been altered as a result of Defendants’ actions, including such simple things as where to live, how to go out in public, and when to see family and friends. This result was entirely foreseeable. Defendants’ conduct is so outrageous in character and extreme in degree as to be beyond all bounds of decency. It should be regarded as atrocious and determined intolerable in a civilized community.
178. Defendants’ wrongful conduct has inflicted severe emotional distress on plaintiffs. They have suffered mental reactions including fright and fear for their safety, horror and helplessness in the face of the intense hatred directed at them by defendants and by their readers, anger, anxiety, sleeplessness, shame and humiliation. The emotional distress defendants caused to be inflicted on Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss was so severe that no reasonable person could be expected to endure it.
179. Defendants’ wrongful conduct caused physical manifestations of harm to plaintiffs including weight gain, disrupted sleep, and anxiety attacks, as well as mental anguish, requiring them to seek treatment for the mental anguish resulting directly from the severe emotional trauma inflicted by defendants.
180. As a direct and proximate result of Defendants’ conduct, plaintiffs have suffered significant general, actual, incidental, and special damages including, without limitation, emotional distress, overwhelming stress and anxiety, lost earnings, and other pecuniary loss.
PRAYER FOR RELIEFWHEREFORE, Plaintiffs pray for judgment against Defendants for each of the causes of action raised herein. Plaintiffs respectfully request a judgment in their favor and against Defendants for:
A. Nominal damages;
B. Compensatory damages, including general, actual, consequential, and special damages, in an amount to be determined at trial;
C. Punitive damages;
D. Reasonable and necessary attorneys’ fees;
E. Reasonable and necessary costs of the suit;
F. Prejudgment and post-judgment interest at the highest lawful rates;
G. Declarative relief stating that the statements authored and published by Defendants identified within this Petition, individually and collectively, were and are false:
H. Injunctive relief enjoining Defendants to remove their false and defamatory statements about plaintiffs from any website and/or social media accounts under their control
I. Such other and further relief as this Court deems just and appropriate.
Dated: December 2, 2021 Respectfully submitted,
By /s/ James E. Bennett
James F. Bennett, No. 46826
John C. Danforth, No. 18438
Matt D. Ampleman, No. 69938
Dowd Bennett LLP
7733 Forsyth Blvd, Suite 1900
St. Louis, MO 63105
[DELETE]
Von A. DuBose*
75 14th Street, NE
Suite 2110
Atlanta, Georgia 30309
[DELETE]
Kurt G. Kastorf*
Kastorf Law LLC
1387 Iverson Street NE
Suite #100
Atlanta, GA 30307
[DELETE]
Brittany Williams*
"UNITED T0 PROTECT DEMOCRACY, INC.
15 Main St., Suite 312
Watertown MA 02472
[DELETE]
John Langford*
Rachel Goodman®
"UNITED To PROTECT DEMOCRACY, INC.
82 Nassau Street, #601
New York NY 10038
[DELETE]
David A. Schulz*
Michael Linhorst*
Stephanie Rice (law student intern)
Chelsea Thomeer (law student intern)
MEDIA FREEDOM & INFORMATION
Access Clinic
FLOYD ABRAMS INSTITUTE FOR FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
YALE LAW SCHOOL
127 Wall Street
P.O. Box 208215
New Haven, CT 06520
*Pro hac vice forthcoming
Attorneys for Plaintiffs