Georgia election worker Shaye Freeman Moss says Trump conspiracies ‘turned my life upside down’

Shaye Freeman Moss, a former Georgia election worker who was a target of a conspiracy theory spread by former President Trump and his allies, said Tuesday that the allegations against her “turned my life upside down.” 

Moss appeared before the House select committee proving the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, and fought back tears as she talked about how the harassment campaign against her upended her life in the weeks after the 2020 election. 

“It’s turned my life upside down. I no longer give out my business card. I don’t transfer calls. I don’t want anyone knowing my name,” Moss testified at Tuesday’s hearing. “I don’t go anywhere with my mom. I don’t go to the grocery store at all. I haven’t been anywhere at all. I’ve gained about 60 pounds.” 

“I don’t do nothing anymore. I don’t want to go anywhere. I second guess everything I do. It’s affected my life in a major way. In every way. All because of lies,” Moss continued. 

Rudy Giuliani, who served as an attorney for Trump in his bid to overturn the 2020 election results, claimed in an appearance before Georgia lawmakers that Moss and her mother, Ruby Freeman, were seen on camera passing a suspicious USB drive while counting election results in Fulton County, Ga. He insisted the two should have been questioned and had their homes searched for evidence. 

In a call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger, then-President Trump brought up Ross 18 times. 

Moss testified on Tuesday that her mother was passing her a “ginger mint,” not a USB drive, during the video portion in question. 

Moss’s mother, Ruby Freeman, told the committee in private testimony aired Tuesday that her life had changed as well. She was conscious of using her full name and concerned about who might hear if she were out at the grocery store. 

“Do you know how it feels to have the President of the United States target you?” Freeman said in her deposition. “The president of the United States is supposed to represent every American, not to target one.”