Giuliani ordered to pay $148 mil - defamed election workers

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A federal jury on Friday ordered Rudy Giuliani to pay over $148 million to two Georgia election workers for falsely claiming they committed ballot fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

The jaw-dropping figure includes $75 million in punitive damages, along with awards of $20 million to each of the two election workers for emotional distress and more than $16 million each for defamation.

Giuliani was in court as the verdict was read aloud by a federal judge. After the court adjourned, the plaintiffs joyously embraced while Giuliani, who stood alone, packed a bag without looking up, NBC News reported.

Outside the courthouse, Giuliani called the damages figure “absurd” and vowed to appeal.

The civil verdict by the jury Friday came a after Giuliani’s lawyer said he would not testify in the case in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., reversing his supposed plans to do so.

The plaintiffs in the case, Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, who are mother and daughter, sued Giuliani in 2021 for defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress and civil conspiracy.

Judge Beryl Howell in August issued a default judgment against Giuliani in the women’s favor because he had repeatedly failed to comply with orders requiring him to turn over evidence to their attorneys. Giuliani previously had conceded that for the purposes of the lawsuit he had made false statements about the women that were defamatory.

Howell’s ruling meant that the trial would only determine how much money the former New York City mayor would pay the women in damages.

Giuliani had said at a Georgia Senate hearing after the 2020 election that Freeman and Moss at a ballot counting location had passed each other USB flash drives like “vials of heroin or cocaine” as part of a scheme to defraud Trump of an election win. Moss later testified to Congress that she and her mother were passing candy.

Freeman testified during the trial that after Giuliani made his claims about her and her daughter, they received non-stop threats, and that she left her home for two months at the beginning of 2021 at the recommendation of the FBI.

“We are coming for you and your family!” one email sent to Freeman said, according to evidence shown to jurors. “Ms. Ruby, safest place for you right now is in prison. Or you will swing from the trees.”

Freeman wept on the witness stand, “It’s so scary every time I go somewhere if I have to use my name.”

I'm really sorry about how far Rudy Giuliani has fallen. At one time he was referred to as "America's Mayor". This was in reference to his calming presence following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Not only did he help reassure the residents of NYC but he also helped calm the nation in the aftermath of these horrific attacks.

I don't recognize the man who repeatedly defamed the election workers. Even after the ruling came out regarding the $148 million payment, he has continued to defame these workers. He sounded completely demented when he again insisted that he hadn't been lying and that he had proof which somehow was never presented in court.

A bankruptcy judge has ruled that Rudy Giuliani, the once-respected former mayor of New York City, can appeal the $146 million verdict after he was found liable of defaming two Georgia elections workers — if he uses pre-approved donors to pay the legal expenses.

"Any fees and expenses incurred by the Debtor and his advisors in the Freeman Litigation in connection with any Post-Trial Filings and the Notice of Appeal shall not be paid by, and shall not result in a claim against, the Debtor or his estate," U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane wrote.

In a court filing last week, Freeman and Moss noted that Giuliani's son was president of Giuliani Defense, a legal defense fund, and said it was "essential to obtain clarity on how the Legal Defense Funds were themselves funded." On Monday, Giuliani declared that he had not directly or indirectly donated any money to either of his legal defense funds.