Pro-Trump OAN admits no election fraud in Georgia in 2020 election

• One America News Network said in a statement that there was “no widespread voter fraud” in the 2020 election.
• It was responding to a defamation lawsuit against it brought by two election workers who say they were harassed.
• OAN helped push that groundless claim of voter fraud for months.

The right-wing One America News Network admitted in a Monday legal statement that there was no widespread voter fraud by Georgia election officials in the 2020 presidential election after having extensively pushed the groundless claim.

In a 30-second statement that aired Monday night, a voiceover stated: “Georgia officials have concluded that there was no widespread voter fraud by election workers who counted ballots at the State Farm Arena in November 2020.”

“The results of this investigation indicate that Ruby Freeman and Wandrea ‘Shaye’ Moss did not engage in ballot fraud or criminal misconduct,” the statement said, referring to two election workers for Fulton County, Georgia.

“A legal matter with this network and the two election workers has been resolved to the mutual satisfaction of the parties through a fair and reasonable settlement.”

The statement was a response to a defamation lawsuit filed against the network by Freeman and Moss, who are mother and daughter.

Citing legal documents, Reuters reported in April that Freeman and Moss had reached a settlement with OAN in the case. Freeman and Moss have also filed a defamation lawsuit against Rudy Giuliani, the former personal lawyer of former President Donald Trump, the report said. 

The pair, who helped to administer the 2020 election in the state, said they were subjected to harassment and abuse after baseless rumors pushed by Trump allies that they had interfered with votes as part of a plot to deprive Trump of victory. 

The former president and his allies, including Giuliani, launched a campaign to overturn Trump’s defeat in Georgia, a red-leaning state that voted to elect Joe Biden in 2020.

OAN also broadcast reports baselessly alleging that Freeman and Moss had produced fake ballots and registered them in voting machines to steal the election from Trump.

An investigation by Georgia officials last October found no evidence of wrongdoing in how the election had been conducted in Fulton County, which had been pivotal to Biden’s win and where Trump allies had focused their efforts to overturn the result.