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Mary Trump said she believes her uncle, Donald Trump, has made statements that could cost him millions.
The former president's estranged niece claims she has "proof" that he defamed the same Georgia election workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, who sued ex-Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani. Earlier this month, a jury ordered Giuliani pay $148 million in damages to Freeman and Moss for repeatedly making false claims about them in public.
On her Substack, Mary Trump said the 45th president had accused the mother-daughter election workers of getting rid of 10 times the votes he needed to win in the state. The result in Georgia was the closest in the whole of the 2020 presidential election, with a margin in favor of Biden of just under 12,000 votes.
There is no evidence the election was stolen, despite Trump's repeated claims.
At a rally in Valdosta, Georgia, on December 5, 2020, Trump repeated claims by Giuliani that there was a fake water main break so the room at the ballot processing center could be cleared. A video was shown to the crowd there that claimed to show Freeman and Moss engaging in election fraud, Mary Trump says.
"So, if you just take the crime of what those Democrat workers were doing — by the way, there was no water main break," the then-president told the crowd after the clip was played. "You know, they said there was no water main break. That's 10 times more than I need to win this state, 10 times more. It is 10 times, maybe more than that, but it is 10 times more because we lost by a very close number."
Giuliani was successfully sued and damages of between $16 and $17 million were awarded, along with $20 million each for the intentional infliction of emotional distress and a further $75 million in punitive damages.
Mary Trump says her uncle could fall foul of the same thing after the December 5 rally.
Newsweek has approached a Trump spokesperson via email for comment.
Also cited in Mary Trump's Substack was a phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. During the infamous call, Trump asked him to help "find" enough votes to overturn the slim margin in Georgia.
Trump called Freeman "a vote scammer, a professional vote scammer and hustler," during the call. He also mentioned Freeman and "her daughter" in a post on his Truth Social Media app on January 4 this year, saying her group hid "thousands of ballots" under a table, according to screenshot posted by Mary Trump.
Mary Trump asked attorney Joe Gallina if a suit could be brought against Trump by Freeman and Moss.
"Seeing this evidence, I believe Donald Trump could 100% be sued by Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss for defamation—and they could win," Gallina wrote. "Further, I think Donald Trump faces more serious legal trouble."
He continued: "Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss successfully argued all four elements – telling a lie, broadcasting it, showing malice, and harm – which were needed to prove defamation in court against Rudy Giuliani. Donald Trump appears to have committed all four as well."
Gallina went on to explain that a likely defense from Trump would be one of immunity, but he doubted if this would be successful due in part to incidents like the January 4 Truth Social post occurring after he left office.
About the writer
Benjamin Lynch is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is U.S. politics and national affairs and he ... Read more