WASHINGTON — A former Georgia election worker told jurors she lost her home, and her name, after she and her daughter were targeted with false election fraud claims in late 2020 by former President Donald Trump and his attorney, Rudy Giuliani.
Ruby Freeman, who goes by the name “Lady Ruby,” took the stand Wednesday as the final plaintiffs’ witness in a civil trial that began Monday to determine how much Giuliani owes her and her daughter, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, for repeatedly, and falsely, claiming they were part of a plan to scan false ballots for the presidential election in Fulton County, Georgia, in 2020. Giuliani was found liable for defamation against the two women earlier this year in a default judgment after he failed to turn over discovery in the case.
Freeman, now 64, said she made her living selling shirts and other items through her boutique store “LaRuby’s Unique Treasures.” She was wearing one of her “Lady Ruby” shirts while serving as a temporary election worker at the State Farm Arena in 2020. Freeman said she thinks that’s how people got her name.
“That was my business,” she said. “That was like my uniform.”
A month after election day, Giuliani – serving as an attorney, adviser and surrogate for Trump’s efforts to overturn his loss to President Joe Biden – spoke to the Georgia State Senate and accused Freeman and Moss of handing around USB drives “like they were vials of heroin or cocaine.” Freeman said what she can actually be seen handing Moss in the video is a ginger mint.
That same day, she said, a torrent of hateful, racist and threatening messages began and has never ceased.
“You are dead,” one message played for jurors says. “Your family and you are now criminals and traitors to the union. BLM wants the cops to go away, good, they are in the way of my ropes and your tree.”
“We are coming for you and your family,” another message said. “Ms. Ruby, safest place for you right now is in prison. Or you will swing from the trees.”
“Ruby Freeman, I hope the Federal Government hangs you and your daughter from the Capitol home you treasonous piece of s***!” a third message said. “I pray that I will be sitting lose enough to hear your necks snap!”
Yet another message played for jurors was just the n-word chanted over and over again. Both Freeman and her daughter are Black.
Freeman said she installed a security system at her home, but was eventually warned by the FBI to leave until at least after the inauguration. Ultimately, she sold the house and moved away. That wasn’t until after she received a message warning the caller was coming for her and “trash will be taken to the street in bags.”
“I took it they were going to cut me up and put me in trash bags on the street,” Freeman said.
Before Freeman’s testimony, jurors heard from Dr. Ashlee Humphreys, a professor of integrated communications at Northwestern University. Humphreys conducted an analysis that found Giuliani and Team Trump’s statements about Freeman and Moss generated anywhere from 35.5 to 56.7 million impressions among receptive audiences and could take a $28-$47 million campaign to repair. The suit filed by Freeman and Moss against Giuliani seeks $15.5-$43 million in damages. Another defendant, One America News, settled last year for undisclosed terms.
Giuliani’s attorney, Joseph Sibley, opted not to cross-examine Freeman. The defense was expected to present its case Thursday. After court Wednesday evening, Giuliani was asked if he planned on testifying in his own defense.
“Well, I intend to,” he said.
Jurors were told to return to court Thursday at 10 a.m. to resume hearing evidence in the case.