Thread by @AndyKroll

Today we heard Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman tell the @January6thCmte about the threats they faced as Georgia election workers in 2020.

Threats fueled by no less than former President Trump himself.

There's an intriguing backstory to their testimony.

A Jan. 6 🧵...

Moss & Freeman are a mother-daughter duo who processed ballots in Fulton County, GA.

They were accused of many crimes, like unloading "suitcases" of fake Biden ballots, double-counting ballots, and tampering w/ voting machines.

The "crime of the century," Giuliani claimed. 2/

These accusations, echoed by Trump himself, turned Moss and Freeman's lives inside out.

They received racist and violent threats, their careers suffered, and they feared for their safety.

Ruby Freeman had to flee her home for two months, she testified. See below... 3/

Moss and Freeman became just the latest private citizens to become victims of viral, harmful conspiracy theories related to politics and elections.

So, what could they do to clear their names?

They sued @OANN, Rudy Giuliani, and several others. 4/ protectdemocracy.org/resource-libra…

Here's where we get to the intriguing backstory I mentioned at the start of this thread.

Seated behind Shaye Moss and next to Ruby Freeman at today's @January6thCmte hearing were two of their lawyers, Mike Gottlieb & Meryl Governski.

(They're to the left of Ruby in the red.) 5/

So why do I mention these two lawyers?

For nearly six years, Gottlieb & Governski have been developing a playbook for how the law can combat viral conspiracy theories and defend victims.

Stop the Steal 1.0?✅
Pizzagate?✅
Seth Rich's brother?✅

6/

For years I've followed Gottlieb and Governski's work — and the work of the lawyers they team up with — as part of my book reporting about the Seth Rich saga.

They're on the leading edge of this work. And they've gotten results time and again. 7/ rollingstone.com/politics/polit…

These lawyers would be the first to tell you that today belongs to Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman.

You really should watch their testimony if you haven't:

However, if you want to know the inside story of how a small band of lawyers fought viral lies... 8/

...well, I've got a book for you.

I spent years watching Gottlieb, Governski, and their colleagues figure out how to fight for truth and facts in this truth-challenged era of ours.

It's in my upcoming book. Check it out — and thanks for following along. bit.ly/DeathOnW

Post-script: If you want to read more about these lawyers' work on behalf of Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman partnering with @protctdemocracy, there's a wealth of information here: protectdemocracy.org/project/fighti…

Post-script 2: Lawyer Mike Gottlieb, who I wrote about in my thread, spoke to CNN’s @brikeilarcnn about Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman’s testimony and their lawsuits against The Gateway Pundit and Rudy Giuliani.

Watch the interview here:

https://mobile.twitter.com/brikeilarcnn/status/1539604490935992321