Video shows Kanye’s publicist pressuring Georgia election worker falsely accused of fraud by Trump
The woman was forced to flee her home of 20 years amid death threats
A longtime publicist for Kanye West reportedly pressured a Georgia election worker to confess to committing election fraud or face jail.
Two months after West ended a bid for the White House, his Chicago-based publicist Trevian Kutti, paid a visit to Ruby Freeman, 62. She warned her that she would be arrested in 48 hours if she didn’t confess to bogus claims leveled at her by former President Donald Trump that she committed election fraud, Reuters reports.
Weeks after the 2020 presidential election, Kutti paid a visit to Freeman in January, claiming she came on behalf of a “high-profile individual” to help her amid threats of violence leveled at the grandmother and her family. Trump dragged Freeman into his election fraud claims when he accused her and her daughter, Shaye Moss, of secretly counting illegal ballots.
At the time, Freeman was a temporary worker helping process absentee ballots in Fulton County, Georgia. After being accused by Trump, she suffered harassment and death threats from Trump allies.
When Kutti showed up at her door on Jan. 4 offering to protect her from certain danger, Freeman was reluctant to talk to her alone. She called 911 to request an officer be present for her conversation with Kutti. She explained to the dispatcher that Kutti warned that “it’s just a matter of time that they are going to come out for me and my family.”
An officer arrived and Kutti described herself as a “crisis manager,” according to the police incident report. She insisted that Freeman “was in danger” and had “48 hours” before “unknown subjects” descended upon her home of 20 years. At the officer’s suggestion, the women agreed to continue the conversation at the police station, where part of their interaction was recorded on bodycam.
“We didn’t want to frighten you, but we had to find you in this time frame,” Kutti told Freeman in police body camera footage obtained by Reuters.
“I cannot say what specifically will take place,” Kutti is heard telling Freeman. “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 continued.
At the station, Kutti put Freeman on the phone with a man named “Harrison Ford” (not the actor), who Kutti said had “authoritative powers to get you protection,” the bodycam footage shows.
That’s when she asked the officer for privacy. Freeman said after the officer recording the bodycam footage walked away, the man on the phone offered her legal assistance if she confessed to committing election fraud.
Freeman recalled Kutti saying, “If you don’t tell everything, you’re going to jail.”
Freeman refused and told Kutti “the devil is a liar” before ending the conversation.
According to the report, the police did not investigate the incident further.
A day later, Freeman and her family fled their home on the advice of the FBI amid growing threats. On the morning of Jan. 6, two days after Kutti’s warning, a mob of angry pro-Trump protesters shouting in bullhorns surrounded Freeman’s home.
It’s unclear if Kutti still works for West, or in what capacity. She has been linked to his camp since 2018 after she quit working for disgraced R&B singer R. Kelly.
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