One America News Admits “No Widespread Voter Fraud” by Georgia Election Workers

The acknowledgment came after the network settled a defamation suit filed by two election workers.

Yuri Gripas/Sipa/AP

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One America News, the right-wing cable network, aired a 30-second segment yesterday essentially admitting the falsity of its previous “reporting” on supposed voter fraud by two Georgia election workers. The prerecorded statement aired shortly after OAN settled a defamation suit brought by Fulton County election workers Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea ā€œShayeā€ Moss, whom the network had falsely accused of participating in a conspiracy to steal the 2020 election. 

“The results of this investigation indicate that Ruby Freeman and Wandrea ā€˜Shayeā€™ Moss did not engage in ballot fraud or criminal misconduct,ā€ a narrator states in the segment. ā€œA legal matter with this network and the two election workers has been resolved to the mutual satisfaction of the parties through a fair and reasonable settlement.” 

During their desperate campaign to seed doubt about the validity of Biden’s win, right-wing media outlets and Trump surrogates latched onto surveillance footage of Moss and Freeman counting votes, saying that the women were pulling suitcases of “illegal” ballots from under a table and fraudulently counting them. These claims were quickly refuted by both Georgiaā€™s secretary of state and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which found that the ā€œsuitcasesā€ were actually just standard ballot containers with legitimate votes.

Nevertheless, OAN and other outlets continued to accuse both women of fraud. As a result of the lies, Freeman and Moss were reportedly stalked, doxxed, and targeted with death threats. As I wrote in December: 

For Moss and Freeman, the fallout was devastating. After retiring from her job as an emergency call coordinator, Freeman had started a small boutique that sold fashion accessories online, but she was forced to shutter that business when her social media accounts were flooded with threats and racist messages. 

According to a Reuters investigation that detailed the harassment, Freemanā€™s home address was posted on social media platforms, and Trump supporters publicly called for her execution. Strangers camped outside Freemanā€™s home and ordered pizza for delivery to lure her outside. Photos of Mossā€™ car and license plate were posted online. On two occasions, Moss told NPR, strangers attempted to force their way into her grandmotherā€™s houseā€”where Freeman used to liveā€”and make a ā€œcitizenā€™s arrest.ā€ 

The OAN segment doesn’t reference the abominable consequences of the network’s conspiracy-mongering, but it’s probably the closest thing to a mea culpa that it will issue. 

Freeman and Moss have also filed suit against the Gateway Pundit, a right-wing blog that pushed a series of baseless claims about them. That suit is still pending

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