Ruby Freeman, a Georgia election worker who became the target of an apparent right-wing disinformation campaign in the weeks following the 2020 election, had her life upended when several conservative media outlets claimed baselessly that she and her daughter, Shayne Moss, used their positions to manipulate ballots in favor of President Joe Biden.
The conspiracies quickly spread after then President Donald Trump himself called them out by name last December — mentioning Freeman at least 18 times during his infamous call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
The harassment that followed was swift and unrelenting, and the pair even abandoned their home for two months on the advice of FBI agents after receiving dozens of credible death threats from hardcore supporters of then-President Donald Trump, according to a lawsuit they filed recently against far-right site The Gateway Pundit.
The campaign against Freeman even veered into the bizarre: According to a new report from Reuters, she was visited at one point by a Chicago-based publicist for Kanye West, who offered to help handle her media presence and pressed her to confess to the bogus accusations.
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The woman, Trevian Kutti, apparently showed up at Freeman's door on Jan. 4, 2021, but never disclosed her association with the Grammy Award-winning rapper and producer. Instead, she said she had been sent by an unnamed "high-profile individual," Reuters reported. Freeman, by then wary of strangers due to the volume of threats she'd received, called 911 and later agreed to meet with Kutti at a nearby police station.
The pair's conversation was caught on video thanks to a police bodycam, which was later shared with Reuters.
Kutti's message was simple: Cop to the charges, or "unknown subjects" would show up at her door within "48 hours."
"I cannot say what specifically will take place," Kutti tells Freeman, according to the recording. "I just know that it will disrupt your freedom," she said, "and the freedom of one or more of your family members."
"You are a loose end for a party that needs to tidy up," Kutti added.
RELATED: Georgia election workers sue far-right website The Gateway Pundit, citing "campaign of lies"
Later in the conversation, Kutti even attempted to call someone named Harrison Ford — not the actor with the same name — claiming this person had "authoritative powers to get [Freeman] protection."
It was around then that Freeman ended the conversation, saying, "The devil is a liar," before leaving the station. At home, she researched Kutti's background and discovered her background as a high-profile Trump supporter.
At least one of Kutti's predictions did end up coming true: a group of Trump supporters did gather outside Freeman's house two days later on Jan. 6, just as a larger group stormed the U.S. Capitol in a failed attempt to stop the 2020 election certification process, according to the lawsuit against The Gateway Pundit.
Police told Reuters that they did not investigate Kutti's involvement any further. It's unclear whether she was acting on behalf of West, who changed his name in October to "Ye," or anyone else — both refused requests for comment.
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