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Election worker sues Trump, Giuliani for false claims he says caused two heart attacks


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A Pennsylvania poll worker is suing former President Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani and other political supporters for making allegedly defamatory statements following the Nov. 3, 2020, election that he says caused him to suffer two heart attacks. 

James Savage, who was employed as a county voting machine warehouse supervisor during the 2020 election, claims his reputation has been "permanently damaged" and now suffers an "eminently reasonable fear for his life and for that of his family," according to the suit filed in a Philadelphia county court on Oct. 29.

Savage's attorney, Conor Corcoran, said Trump, Giuliani and their supporters "near put my client six feet under, and we're gonna let a Philadelphia jury set them straight."

According to the suit, the defamatory statements began when Gregory Stenstrom and Leah Hoopes, two Republican poll watchers named in the suit, falsely accused Savage of rigging the state's election by adding 50,000 votes for now-President Joe Biden. Their claims were then repeated by Trump, Giuliani and other supporters of Trump, which subjected Savage to "threats of physical violence" and "two heart attacks," according to the suit.

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"Despite knowing the impossibility of such claims and/or insinuations, Defendant Donald J. Trump, his surrogates – including Defendant Rudolph W. Giuliani herein – and their followers spread, reposted, and disseminated these outrageously defamatory claims and/or insinuations against Mr. Savage," the lawsuit read. 

The suit also names Jenna Ellis, a former Trump attorney, Chicago-based conservative law firm The Thomas More Society and former Kansas Attorney General Phillip Kline.

The suit seeks damages of $50,000 and a jury trail for defamation, false light invasion of privacy and civil conspiracy. 

Corcoran said he has "no doubt" that the suit will come before a jury.

Trump and his supporters have continued to make false assertions of widespread election fraud during the 2020 election without evidence to support the claims. 

Trump, Giuliani and the other defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment.