A former Georgia elections worker told a jury on Tuesday that she feared for her life after Rudy Giuliani and other allies of former U.S. President Donald Trump falsely accused her of attempting to rig the 2020 election.
Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, a former voter registration officer in Fulton County, testified at the second day of Giuliani’s defamation trial that her life “flipped upside down” in early December 2020 when Trump allies began falsely claiming that she and her mother, Ruby Freeman, engaged in fraud after the November election.
“How can someone with so much power go public and talk about things that he obviously has no clue about?” Moss, 39, said of Giuliani. “It’s just obvious that it’s a lie.”
A federal judge has already determined that Giuliani, the former mayor of New York and personal lawyer for Trump, defamed Moss and Freeman. The only issue for the jury to decide is how much Giuliani owes in damages.
Moss testified that the ordeal has affected “every single aspect” of her life, forcing her out of her job and leaving her fearful of going out alone. She spoke of receiving a flood of racist messages that included threats to lynch her and her mother.
“I literally felt that someone is going to come and attempt to hang me and there’s nothing that anyone will be able to do about it,” Moss said.
Giuliani’s lawyer Joseph Sibley has argued that others besides Giuliani bear responsibility for the harm the two workers suffered. During cross-examination, Sibley questioned Moss on whether there was evidence that Giuliani intended to spur threats and racist attacks against her and her mother.
“Rudy Giuliani and his crew were the start of it all,” Moss said. “They lit the torch.”