Atlanta, December 10 (Reuters)-A few weeks after the 2020 election, the Chicago publicist of hip-hop artist Kanye West went to the suburban residence of Ruby Freeman, a shocked Georgia election worker , Facing death threats after being falsely accused by the former president Donald Trump rigged votes. The publicist knocked on the door and expressed willingness to help.
The visitor Trevian Kutti revealed her name, but did not say that she worked for Trump’s billionaire friend West. She said that she was sent by a "known person" who did not reveal her identity to give Freeman an urgent message: admit Trump's voter fraud accusations, otherwise people will come to her house within 48 hours, and she will go to jail. .
Freeman refused. This story of how the music tycoon’s colleagues pressured a 62-year-old provisional election worker at the center of a Trump conspiracy theory is based on previously unreported police recordings and reports, legal documents, and Freeman being dragged away After the first media interview, Trump tried to reverse his defeat in the election.
Cutie did not respond to a request for comment. Her work biography of the Women's Global Initiative, a business network organization, listed her as a member of the "Young Black Leadership Council under President Donald Trump." It noted that in September 2018, she was “appointed as Kanye West’s public relations officer” and “now serves as West’s director of operations”.
After the story was published, a representative of West said that Kuty had nothing to do with the music star when he met Freeman. The rapper’s spokesperson, Pierre Rugil, said on Sunday: “When or after the facts reported in these articles, Trevian Couty and Kanye West or any of his None of the companies are connected."
Rougier did not answer other questions about whether Kutti worked for West at other times, or whether West and Kutti knew each other. Before publishing this article, Reuters contacted another representative of West, but received no response.
When Couty knocked on Freeman's door on January 4, Freeman called 911. Freeman said she was wary of strangers at the time.
Beginning on December 3, Trump and his campaign team have repeatedly accused Freeman and her daughter Wandria "Saya" Moss of working on election day at Atlanta State Farm Arena from a mysterious suitcase. False mailed ballots were taken out and counted illegally. In fact, the "suitcase" was a standard ballot container, and the ballots were counted correctly. County and state officials quickly confirmed and refuted allegations of fraud.
But Trump and his allies continue to accuse Freeman and Moss of rigging the election. These allegations led to hundreds of threats and harassment messages directed at them and their families.
According to Freeman and a police report, when Couty arrived, Freeman needed help, but due to threats, he was cautious and refused to open the door.
So Freeman asked his neighbor to come over and talk to Couty, who was with an unidentified man. Like Freeman, Couty and the other visitors are also Black. Couty told her neighbor Freeman that it was dangerous, and she was sent to help. Freeman said she would like to meet with them. According to the recording of her call to 911, she asked the Cobb County Police to send a police officer to guard so that she could go out.
"They said I need help," Freeman told the dispatcher, referring to the person at her door. "It's only a matter of time before they will come out to rescue me and my family."
According to the police incident report, a police officer arrived and talked to Couty, who called himself a "crisis manager."
According to the report, Kuty reiterated that Freeman was "in danger" and "48 hours" before the "unknown object" appeared at her home. On the advice of the police officer, the two women agreed to meet at the police station. The official's report did not specify the man who accompanied Kuti.
'You are a loose ending'
On October 11, 2018, rapper Kanye West showed his mobile phone to President Donald Trump at a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, USA. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
According to the footage taken by a body camera worn by a police officer attending the meeting, Couty and Freeman met in a corner in the station. Reuters obtained the video through a public recording request.
"I can't say exactly what will happen," Cutie told Freeman in the recording. "I only know that this will destroy your freedom," she said, "and the freedom of one or more of your family members."
"For a party that needs tidying up, you are a loose ending," Couty continued. She added that "federal government personnel" were involved, but did not provide specific details.
According to Freeman, Couty told her that she was going to put a man named "Harrison Ford" on the speakerphone. (Freeman said that the person who answered the phone was not an actor of the same name.) Cutie said that this person has "authoritative power to protect you," the body camera lens shows.
At that time, Couty could be heard asking the police officer to give them privacy. After the officer left the two women, the body camera did not capture a clear record of the conversation.
Freeman said that for the next hour, Couty and the person on the speaker tried to get Freeman to implicate voter fraud on election day. Freeman said that Couty provided legal aid in exchange.
"If you don't tell everything," Freeman recalled Couty, "you will go to jail."
Freeman became more and more suspicious, saying that she jumped up from her chair and told Cutie: "The devil is a liar," and then called the police officer.
Freeman said that later at home, she searched Kuti's name on Google and found that she was a Trump supporter.
The police said they did not investigate the incident further.
West changed his name to "Ye" in October, but did not respond to a request for comment from another publicist representing him.
Media reports cited Kuti’s contact with the rapper since 2018, when she stopped working with R&B singer R. Kelly, who was convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking in September. Kuti’s biography says that she is the founder of Trevian Worldwide, a media and entertainment consulting company with offices in four cities. She said her clients include boxer Terence Crawford and Queen Rania Abdullah of Jordan.
The meeting was held two months after West ended his defeat in the White House campaign. At that time, several publications revealed that Trump’s allies and supporters were promoting West’s campaign on the ground, which attracted media attention. . Some Democrats said they thought West’s presidential campaign was a trick to steal black votes from Democrat Joe Biden. The group that assisted the rapper in the campaign denied the accusation.
Freeman said that on January 5, the day after Freeman and Couty met, an FBI agent called Freeman and urged her to leave the home where she had lived for 20 years, because there Not safe.
According to the defamation lawsuit filed by Freeman and Moss against the far-right news site last week, the next day, on January 6, Couty’s prediction that people would come to Freeman’s home within 48 hours proved to be correct. The lawsuit alleges that a few hours before Freeman left, a group of angry Trump supporters surrounded her home and yelled in a megaphone.
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