Trump racketeering charges include harassment of Georgia election worker Ruby Freeman
The former president and 18 others were indicted Monday in connection with their efforts to overturn the 2020 election result in Georgia.
The harassment of Georgia election worker Ruby Freeman was included in the racketeering charge against former President Donald Trump and his alleged co-conspirators by Fulton County grand jurors.
The first of the 41 charges laid out in the indictment falls under the state’s RICO law and notes that some of the 19 members of the alleged “criminal enterprise” falsely accused Freeman of committing election crimes, allegations they repeated to Georgia officials in an attempt to persuade them that the election results were tainted and should be overturned.
The indictment adds that “in furtherance of the scheme, members of the enterprise traveled from out of state to harass Freeman, intimidate her, and solicit her to falsely confess to election crimes that she did not commit.” Further details include some of the Trump allies traveling to Freeman’s residence, talking to her neighbors and calling her home.
The indictment also notes false testimony from former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who accused Freeman and others of passing around USB drives at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, which was used as a polling place. The accusations stem from a video of Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, Freeman’s daughter, who also was a poll worker, that circulated on conservative social media in the wake of the 2020 election.
Trump mentioned the pair during his Jan. 2, 2021, call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, the conversation in which Trump requested that the Republican official “find” enough votes to flip the results of the state from a Joe Biden victory to Trump.
The then president referred to Freeman as a “professional vote scammer and hustler.” He targeted her again this January on his Truth Social platform, writing, “What will the Great State of Georgia do with the Ruby Freeman MESS?”
‘Do you know how it feels to have the president of the United States target you?’
Freeman and Moss testified last year to the House committee investigating the events of Jan. 6, 2021, and the efforts to overturn the election. Freeman said the FBI had advised her to stay away from her home.
“It was horrible,” she said. “I felt homeless. I can’t believe this person [Trump] has caused this much damage to me and my family, to have to leave my home.
“There is nowhere I feel safe, nowhere,” she continued. “Do you know how it feels to have the president of the United States target you? The president of the United States is supposed to represent every American — not to target one. But he targeted me — Lady Ruby, a small-business owner, a mother, a proud American citizen who stood up to help Fulton County run an election in the middle of the pandemic.”
In an emotional testimony, Moss said she was the recipient of death threats and racist attacks in the weeks after the election, “telling me that I’ll be in jail with my mother and saying things like ‘Be glad it’s 2020 and not 1920.’” She said the alleged flash drive obsessed over by right-wing conspiracy theorists was ginger mints.
“I don’t want anyone knowing my name,” Moss said. “I don’t wanna go anywhere with my mom ’cause she might yell my name out over the grocery aisle or something. I don’t go to the grocery store at all. I haven’t been anywhere.
“I second-guess everything that I do,” she continued. “It’s affected my life in a major way, in every way, all because of lies for me doing my job, same thing I’ve been doing forever.”
‘False and unsubstantiated’
Following the intense harassment, it’s been a summer of good legal news for Freeman and Moss. Last month, Georgia officials formally cleared them of any wrongdoing after completing a lengthy investigation into the allegations brought by Trump and his team. The report found that the claims against the mother and daughter were “false and unsubstantiated.”
“We are glad the state election board finally put this issue to rest,” Raffensperger said in a statement. “False claims and knowingly false allegations made against these election workers have done tremendous harm. Election workers deserve our praise for being on the front lines.”
In July, as part of a lawsuit brought against him by Freeman and Moss, Giuliani conceded in federal court that he had made false statements about the pair, in addition to saying his comments were “defamatory.” A Giuliani legal adviser attempted to walk back the former New York mayor’s concession in a statement to the Guardian. Both Trump and Giuliani face 13 charges in total and have until Aug. 25 at noon to turn themselves in at the Fulton County Courthouse.
Earlier this year, Biden awarded both Freeman and Moss the Presidential Citizens Medal.
“History will remember your names, remember your courage and remember your bravery,” Biden said at a White House ceremony with the mother and daughter in attendance.
