West Palm Beach, FL – Today, a bankruptcy judge in a Florida court dismissed a case filed by The Gateway Pundit (TGP), allowing Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Wandrea’ ArShaye (“Shaye”) Moss to continue their defamation litigation against TGP in Missouri.

The Florida judge held that TGP had abused the bankruptcy process and filed for bankruptcy only to escape accountability in defamation lawsuits originating from its false claims about the 2020 election. 

“We are pleased that the Court today saw through The Gateway Pundit’s transparent attempt to abuse the bankruptcy process to avoid accountability and granted our motion to dismiss the bankruptcy case. We will continue to work to ensure that no abuse of the legal system further delays justice for Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss,” said Brittany Williams, counsel at Protect Democracy.

“Today’s ruling is a major victory for Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss. It serves as a reminder that the benefits of our bankruptcy system will not be extended to bad faith actors like The Gateway Pundit and its founder Jim Hoft,” said Rachel Strickland, partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP.

Ruby Freeman and Wandrea’ Moss served as election workers in Fulton County, Georgia during the 2020 election. The Gateway Pundit, along with its founding editor Jim Hoft, and contributor Joe Hoft, knowingly disseminated false stories claiming that Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss were involved in a conspiracy to commit election fraud, and continued to publish these lies long after they were proven to be false. 

The lies published about Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss helped generate a torrent of online and offline abuse towards the women, who remain fearful for their own safety. The Gateway Pundit has not retracted or corrected any of its false statements, and indeed has continued to repeat them through the present day. Its numerous articles boasting that it was the first publication to name Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss as committing ballot fraud remain online.

In this litigation, Law for Truth — a project of Protect Democracy — represents Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss, in partnership with the law firms Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, DuBose Miller LLC, Dowd Bennett LLP, and the Yale Law School’s Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic, and other private attorneys.

More information about this litigation can be found here.