Ruby Freeman once went by “Lady Ruby,” a nickname she described as classy and unique. Her last name, she said, was a name that freed slaves chose instead of taking on a “slave master name.”
But after the 2020 election, longtime Trump ally Rudy Giuliani accused her and her daughter, Shaye Moss, of committing election fraud against then-President Trump, bringing an onslaught of violent and racist threats and forcing her into hiding.
Now, she fears being recognized by name.
“I don’t have a name no more,” Freeman testified Wednesday through tears, struggling to get her words out.
Freeman and Moss sued Giuliani two years ago on claims of “defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, civil conspiracy, and punitive damage.” Both former election workers, the mother and daughter are pursuing upward of $43.5 million in damages.
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell already found the former New York City mayor civilly liable for his claims; the trial will determine how much money he owes Moss and Freeman as a result.
Over about 90 minutes of testimony, Freeman traced the threats back to a Dec. 3, 2020, tweet by Giuliani purporting to show video footage of poll workers pulling suitcases stuffed with ballots from under a table after “supervisors” told others to leave the room. The “supervisor” in question was her daughter.
Early the next morning, she began to receive a torrent of messages across platforms that “terrorized” her.
One, from the email “kkk@protonmail.com,” said the safest place Freeman could be was prison or she’d “swing from the trees.” Another email wished that she and Moss would be hung from the “Capitol dome” — and that the writer would be sitting close enough to “hear your necks snap.” Social media comments, mailed letters and texts to Freeman’s personal phone called her a racial slur and depicted racist imagery.
Ever since, Freeman said her life “is just messed up.” The threats forced her to stay with family for weeks, making her feel like a “homeless person,” she said.
“I have a house and I can’t even go there; I don’t have nowhere to go,” she told jurors, adding that she ultimately moved but didn’t introduce herself to neighbors or put utility bills in her name out of fear.
“What is my name today? Who am I today? What name am I gonna use?” Freeman said. “I can’t say who I am.”
Freeman also recalled hearing her daughter testify in the courtroom yesterday. Moss testified Tuesday that her life was “flipped upside down” when she became a focal point of Trump and his allies’ baseless election fraud claims, causing her to grow anxious and have “a lot of dark moments.”
When clips were played of threats against Moss during the trial, Freeman said she prayed to herself, “Fix it Jesus.”
“To have to go through that at a young age … I felt so bad for her,” Freeman said.
Meryl Governski, a lawyer for Freeman and Moss, noted that former President Trump had also used Freeman’s name in an attempt to sway Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to investigate purported election fraud in the state.
“That’s former President Trump using your name, Ruby Freeman, 18 times?” Governski asked.
“Yes,” Freeman replied. “I just felt like, really? The former president, talking about me? Me? How mean. How evil. I just was devastated.”
Giuliani’s attorney did not cross-examine Freeman, only telling her briefly that it was good to meet her.
Freeman’s testimony in the defamation trial could serve as a preview for her future testimony in the sweeping racketeering case against Giuliani, Trump and more than a dozen others in Georgia, where the former president and his allies have been accused of concerted efforts to overturn his election loss in the state in 2020.
Freeman and Moss are expected to serve as key witnesses in that trial. Freeman’s name, in particular, appears some 40 times throughout the 98-page indictment.
One charge Giuliani faces is linked to his claims that Freeman, Moss and an unidentified man were “quite obviously surreptitiously passing around USB ports as if they’re vials of heroin or cocaine” to be used to “infiltrate the crooked Dominion voting machines,” which state prosecutors say violated Georgia’s law against making false statements and writings. The ex-New York City mayor and federal prosecutor has pleaded not guilty to the 13 counts he faces in that criminal case.
After Giuliani’s false claims thrust Freeman and her daughter into the spotlight, a handful of other Trump allies allegedly attempted to influence Freeman’s statements about what happened at the arena, purporting to “offer her help,” according to the indictment.
A trial date in the Georgia racketeering case has not yet been scheduled, but state prosecutors have requested an August start.
After Freeman’s testimony, the plaintiffs rested their case. Leaving the courthouse Wednesday, Giuliani declined to comment on the testimony.
He has been expected to take the stand in his defense, but when pressed by reporters, he wouldn’t outright confirm he will testify.
“I intend to, but you always [leave] them guessing,” Giuliani said.
Updated 6:18 p.m.