Two women who were Georgia election workers in 2020 are suing the far-right conspiracy website Gateway Pundit for defamation, alleging that the site and its owners knowingly published false stories about them that instigated a relentless campaign of harassment and threats. According to the lawsuit, which was filed Thursday in circuit court in St. Louis, the falsehoods about Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Shaye Moss, "have not only devastated their personal and professional reputations but instigated a deluge of intimidation, harassment, and threats that has forced them to change their phone numbers, delete their online accounts, and fear for their physical safety." The harassment got so bad that at one point, Freeman had to leave her home for two months upon the advice of the FBI, the lawsuit states. "Lies like those that The Gateway Pundit knowingly told about Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss cannot be divorced from the devastation they leave behind — both for the targeted individuals and for our democracy itself," Brittany Williams, an attorney with the nonprofit Protect Democracy, which is representing the women, said in a statement. Freeman and Moss are being represented by Protect Democracy; the law firms DuBose Miller, Dowd Bennett and Kastorf Law; and the Yale Law School Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic. Gateway Pundit was founded by James Hoft in 2004. Hoft's twin brother, Joseph, regularly contributes to the site. Both men are named as defendants in the lawsuit. James Hoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. In their lawsuit, Freeman and Moss do not name former president Donald Trump or his campaign as defendants. But they state that the Hofts and Gateway Pundit "apparently drew their inspiration" from a misleading video presented by volunteer Trump campaign attorney Jacki L. Pick at a Dec. 3, 2020 hearing in Georgia. During the hearing, Pick contended that the video showed several poll workers actively stuffing ballots from "suitcases" hidden under a table covered by a black cloth. Pick did not name the workers, although she said "one of them had the name Ruby across her shirt somewhere." A minute-long clip of the video was uploaded to Trump's personal YouTube account, and Trump himself repeated the false claim of fraud.