Rudy Giuliani must pay more than $148 million (€161 million) in damages to two former Georgia election workers he defamed through false accusations that they helped rig the 2020 election against Donald Trump, a jury decided on Friday.
The jury in federal court in Washington DC, found that Mr Giuliani owes the workers, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss and her mother Ruby Freeman, roughly $73 million (€79 million) to compensate them for the reputational and emotional harm they suffered and $75 million (€81 million) to punish the former Trump lawyer and one-time New York major for his conduct.
A federal judge determined before the trial that Mr Giuliani was liable for defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress and civil conspiracy. The only question before the jury was how much in damages to impose on Mr Giuliani, who helped the Republican former US president advance his false claims of a stolen 2020 election.
The verdict was reached after an emotional three days of testimony in which Ms Moss and Ms Freeman, who are black, recounted the deluge of racist and sexist messages, including threats of lynching, they received after Mr Trump and his allies spread false claims that they were engaged in voter fraud.
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“Mr Giuliani thought he could get away with making Ruby and Shaye the face of election fraud because he thought they were ordinary and expendable,” the workers’ lawyer Michael Gottlieb said during his closing argument. “He has no right to offer defenceless civil servants up to a virtual mob in order to overturn an election.”
The plaintiffs requested at least $48 million on the defamation claim and an unspecified sum for emotional distress and punitive damages.
Joseph Sibley, a lawyer for Mr Giuliani, acknowledged that his client had caused harm, but said the penalty the plaintiffs sought would be “catastrophic” for his client. He told the jury Mr Giuliani was a “good man,” referencing his role as mayor of New York following the September 11th, 2001, terrorist attacks.
“Rudy Giuliani shouldn’t be defined by what’s happened in recent times,” Mr Sibley said during his closing argument.
Mr Giuliani, who publicly claimed he would testify during the trial, ultimately opted not to take the witness box.
Mr 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 that was used to process votes during the 2020 election.
Mr Trump also singled out Ms Freeman by name in a highly publicised 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 woman were legally and properly processing ballots. Lawyers for the two women alleged that the claims were part of a conspiracy that involved Mr Trump, his legal team and a right-wing media outlet to help Mr Trump sow doubt about the election and reverse his defeat to current US Democrat president Joe Biden.
Mr Giuliani has faced a series of civil and criminal woes – and mounting legal fees – since helping to spearhead Mr Trump’s efforts to overturn the election.
Mr Giuliani has been criminally charged in the Georgia racketeering case against Mr Trump and several of his allies, in part for targeting Ms Moss and Ms Freeman. He has pleaded not guilty. – Reuters
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