The terms of the settlement between 2020 election workers Wandrea “Shaye” Moss and her mother, Ruby Freeman, in their defamation case against the right-wing Gateway Pundit site have not been disclosed. But if any plaintiffs deserve a big payout and an equally big apology, it’s these two women.
The lives of good Samaritans Moss and Freeman were almost ruined when Rudy Giuliani falsely accused the women of committing election fraud in an effort to overturn the 2020 election on behalf of now-felon Donald Trump. According to The Washington Post, the Gateway Pundit subsequently amplified the disinformation with 58 defamatory articles.
Now, the ladies have a $148 million judgment against Giuliani they are in the process of collecting.
There’s good reason to believe they’ll get some cash to tide them over. The Post noted that the settlement filing indicates certain steps must be taken to complete the settlement agreement. It asks the court to “stay this matter until March 29, 2025, at which point the Parties will dismiss this matter pending satisfaction of the terms of the Parties’ settlement agreement.”
I am hopeful that the purpose of the six-month delay is to allow the defendants time to cough up the cash. Site owner Jim Hoft and his brother Joe, a contributor to the site, are co-defendants along with TGP Communications dba Gateway Pundit. The Gateway Journalism Review (no apparent connection to Gateway Pundit) reported that the dismissal of the brothers’ “bad faith” bankruptcy case was a likely factor in the decision to settle.
However, the settlement will probably not be “the potentially knockout punch that many observers thought a St. Louis jury might deal” the Gateway Pundit, which is one of the right-wing’s most influential,” GJR pointed out.
But the site will not be out its Lying Liar woods even after the Moss/Freeman settlement is concluded. According to The Post, the site still faces a separate defamation suit from former Dominion Voting Systems executive Eric Coomer, who was also falsely accused by Trump World of trying to help steal the election.
