Wandrea “Shaye” Moss’ life changed forever on December 4, 2020, when Rudy Giuliani disseminated conspiracy theories about her online, the former Georgia election worker suing Giuliani for defamation said in federal court Tuesday.
“On that day, lies were spread about me and my mom, saying that we weren’t doing our job, that we were committing fraud. All these crazy lies were spread about us that day, publicly, everywhere,” Moss testified.
Though Moss shared much of her experience as a victim of conspiracy theories with the House select committee that investigated January 6, 2021, her testimony Tuesday was perhaps the most detailed public account she’s given about that period of her life.
At times, she grew visibly emotional while she took the stand, crying as she recalled how different her life has become since the election, including losing her job, entering therapy and seeing family members threatened.
“I am most scared of my son finding me and or my mom hanging outside my house on a tree, or having to get the news at school that his momma was killed,” Moss said Tuesday. “That’s what I’m most afraid of.”
Moss and her mother Ruby Freeman are asking the jury to consider awarding them between $15.5 million and $43 million for the reputational harm they’ve suffered as well as monetary damages for emotional distress stemming from a series of specific statements Giuliani and others, including former President Donald Trump and his campaign, made about them. The judge in the case has already ruled Giuliani spread false information.
Her attorney, John Langford, at one point showed the jury a video Giuliani and Trump shared on Twitter about her and her mother working at a Georgia voting center.
“The video shows us working very hard to ensure that every vote is counted,” Moss said.
“I didn’t know what to think. I was so confused and shocked and – I didn’t know what to think. I was dumbfounded,” she said, referring to her reaction to seeing the video shared online.
Moss said that her superiors at work first made her aware of the online conspiracy theories and the hateful comments spurred by them.
“I learned that I have been receiving all types of hateful, racist, violent, nasty, negative messages,” she said.
Among the messages was one in which a person accused her of “treasonous acts against America (that) are punishable by death.” Langford asked if she knew what treasonous meant at the time.
“I don’t know. I just thought it was some old timey word, like Paul Revere or Bridgerton,” Moss replied. “They kept telling me that it is punishable by death, and they can hang me and they can hang my mom.”
At one point, Langford asked Moss to respond to specific falsehoods spread about her by Giuliani.
“Did you create a false story that there was a water main break?” he said.
“No, I didn’t,” Moss replied.
“Did you get everybody out and make sure before you started counting ballots?”
“No.”
“Did you count ballots multiple times?”
“No.”
“Did you steal the election?” Langford asked
“No, sir,” Moss said.
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