A federal jury in Washington, D.C. has decided that former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani must pay more than $148 million in damages to two former Georgia election workers he defamed with false accusations that they helped rig the 2020 election against Donald Trump, Reuters reports.
The jury found that Giuliani owes Wandrea “Shaye” Moss and her mother Ruby Freeman roughly $73 million to compensate them for the reputational and emotional harm they suffered, as well as an additional $75 million to punish him for his conduct.
Before the trial, a federal judge had already determined that Giuliani was liable for defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and civil conspiracy. The only question for the jury was how much in damages to impose on the former mayor of New York.
The verdict followed three days of emotional testimony from Moss and Freeman, who are Black, about the racist and sexist messages, including threats of lynching, they received after Trump and his allies spread false claims that they were engaged in voter fraud.
The workers’ lawyer, Michael Gottlieb, argued during closing that Giuliani had no right to offer the defenseless civil servants up to a virtual mob in order to overturn an election.
The plaintiffs sought at least $48 million on the defamation claim and an unspecified sum for emotional distress and punitive damages.
Guy Sibley, Giuliani’s lawyer, acknowledged that his client had caused harm but said the penalty the plaintiffs sought would be “catastrophic” for him. He referenced Giuliani’s role as mayor of New York following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and argued that Giuliani shouldn’t be defined by what’s happened in recent times.
Although Giuliani claimed he would testify during the trial, he ultimately chose not to take the witness stand.
Giuliani made repeated false claims that a surveillance video showed Moss and Freeman concealing and counting “suitcases” filled with illegal ballots at a basketball arena in Atlanta used to process votes during the 2020 election.
Trump singled out Freeman by name in a highly publicized January 2021 phone call during which he pressured Georgia’s top election officer, Brad Raffensperger, to “find” votes to overturn his narrow defeat in the state. A state investigation found that the women were legally and properly processing ballots.
Lawyers for Moss and Freeman alleged that the claims were part of a conspiracy that involved Trump, his legal team, and a right-wing media outlet to help Trump sow doubt about the election and reverse his defeat to Democrat Joe Biden.
Giuliani has had a series of civil and criminal woes and mounting legal fees since helping to spearhead Trump’s efforts to overturn the election. He has been criminally charged in the Georgia racketeering case against Trump and several of his allies, in part for targeting Moss and Freeman.
(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Scott Malone, Andy Sullivan and Mark Porter)
