Giuliani ordered to pay $148M in election workers’ defamation lawsuit
by Ella Lee and Zach Schonfeld - 12/15/23 4:28 PM ET
A jury ordered Rudy Giuliani to pay $148 million to two former Georgia election workers for baselessly claiming they committed fraud in the 2020 presidential election, delivering a staggering legal and financial blow for the former New York City mayor-turned-Trump attorney.
During the four-day civil trial, the eight Washington, D.C., residents heard harrowing testimony from the workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, who said their lives were turned upside down as they faced a torrent of racist and violent threats following the accusations.
Giuliani was found liable in the case months ago, and the jury only convened to decide how much the former federal prosecutor must pay in damages. Before deliberations began, the mother-daughter duo asked for more than $47 million.
“Everyone who spread lies about Ms. Moss and Ms. Freeman should be held accountable,” Michael Gottleib, a lawyer for the two women, said in closing remarks.
The jury deliberated for more than 10 hours before ordering Giuliani to pay the election workers a total of $148.7 million.
Moss will receive nearly $17 million for Giuliani’s defamation and $20 million for his infliction of emotional distress. Freeman will receive nearly $16.2 million for the defamation and $20 million for emotional distress. The mother and daughter received an additional $75 million in punitive damages.
Following the 2020 election, Giuliani led Trump’s unsuccessful legal efforts seeking to overturn Joe Biden’s victory. Through press conferences, legislative hearings, media interviews and other statements, Giuliani made Freeman and Moss a focal point of his fraud allegations.
Much of the accusations revolved around a video of the duo working in the State Farm Arena counting ballots. Giuliani claimed in December 2020 that the footage showed the workers pulling suitcases stuffed with ballots from under a table.
Freeman and Moss’s lawyers centered their case on the notion that their clients had lost their names and were forced to live their daily lives in secret. The two women sued Giuliani on claims of “defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, civil conspiracy, and punitive damage.”
Both Freeman and Moss took the stand during the trial, struggling at times to hold back tears.
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https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4362338-giuliani-election-workers-suit-verdict/