'False and unsubstantiated': Georgia elections board clears 2 poll workers of Trump-backed fraud claims

The State Election Board in Georgia on Tuesday cleared two Fulton County poll workers of fraud allegations perpetuated by Donald Trump and his allies, ABC News reports.

An investigation found the allegations against Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea ArShaye “Shaye” Moss were “false and unsubstantiated,” according to a report by Georgia election board investigators.

Freeman and Moss became targets of pro-Trump conspiracy theories “after their election-night conduct on a polling place livestream proliferated online,” ABC News reports.

Per ABC News:

In one video clip, online commentators accused Freeman of handling a suitcase of fraudulent or stolen ballots.
[...]

Another clip showed Freeman handing her daughter a small item, imperceptible on the grainy livestream footage, that led some online commentators to accuse the two of exchanging a USB drive, which was allegedly meant to somehow manipulate votes. Freeman said it was just ginger mints that she kept in her purse.

On Dec. 3, 2020, Former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani falsely claimed that Freeman and Moss “quite obviously surreptitiously [passed] around USB ports as if they’re vials of cocaine."

"It's obvious to anyone who is a criminal investigator or prosecutor that they were engaged in surreptitious illegal activity," Giuliani alleged.

The Georgia Elections Board on Tuesday cleared the pair of any wrongdoing. A social media user interviewed by Georgia election board investigators "admitted he created a fake account and confirmed the content that was posted on the account was fake,” according to ABC News.

Freeman told the House of Representative’s Select Committee on Jan. 6 last year that Giuliani’s decision to “scapegoat” her and her daughter caused her to lose her “name,” “reputation,” and “send of security.” ABC News reports Freeman was even “forced to pack up and leave the suburban Atlanta home where she lived for 20 years” due to harassment she received from Trump supporters.

Read the full report at ABC News.