Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Election official sues Trump and Giuliani claiming audits gave him two heart attacks

James Savage claims his character was ‘assassinated at a national level’ amid fraud claims from Trump camp

Graeme Massie
Los Angeles
Thursday 04 November 2021 16:15 EDT
Comments
Trump Says Supporters Won’t Vote in the ‘22 or ‘24 Elections Until His Election-Fraud Theories Are Validated

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A Pennsylvania election official has sued Donald Trump and Rudolph Giuliani claiming he suffered two heart attacks during their attempts to overturn the 2020 election.

James Savage, a voting machine warehouse custodian in Delaware County, alleges he suffered physical and emotional distress due to “deliberate, malicious, and defamatory statements and insinuations” made by Mr Trump, Mr Giuliani and their associates.

His lawsuit, which was filed in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, says that the defendants falsely accused him of uploading 50,000 votes for Joe Biden.

Mr Savage claims that this character was “assassinated at a national level” and that his health issues were brought on by false claims made by Mr Trump and his associates on Fox News.

He also states that he regularly received death threats and workplace intimidation from Trump supporters.

Other defendants include former Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis, GOP poll watchers Gregory Stenstrom and Leah Hoopes, former Kansas attorney general Phillip Kline, and the Thomas More Society, a nonprofit conservative law firm based in Chicago.

Mr Savage’s lawyer, Conor Corcoran, told The Washington Post his client wants a jury trial on charges of defamation, civil conspiracy and false light invasion of privacy.

He is also seeking monetary damages of up to $50,000.

Mr Trump and Mr Giuliani falsely claimed voter fraud in Pennsylvania in the days after the 2020 election, but Mr Biden’s eventual victory in the state sealed his path to the White House.

“The consequences of what happened here were dire and deadly,” said Mr Corcoran.

Mr Trump’s claims of electoral fraud have been widely debunked by officials and judges across the country, and all claims in Pennsylvania were defeated in court.

Mr Savage, 57, of Upper Chichester, Pennsylvania, “managed the storage, security, programming, testing, and delivery of all voting equipment in Delaware County,” according to the 60-page lawsuit.

His lawyer says that his client had no way to tabulate or disrupt votes, Mr Corcoran said.

The lawsuit states that although Mr Trump, Mr Giuliani and others did not refer to Mr Savage by name, they used his title and “anyone who heard or saw these defamatory statements or insinuations would have known that they were referring to Mr Savage, because he was the only Chief Custodian/Voting Machine Warehouse Supervisor position in Delaware County.”

And it added: “It was obvious there was only one person who was being accused of election fraud by all of the Defendants.”

Despite his health issues, Mr Corcoran says that his client was working the election earlier this week.

“He’s a dedicated public servant, and this did not dissuade him from doing his rounds. He’s not going to let these people get in his way,” he said.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in