A jury has ordered Rudy Giuliani to pay $148 million to two Georgia election workers he defamed with false allegations of voter fraud.
As late as this week, Giuliani had maintained that two rank-and-file Fulton County election workers, a mother and daughter, “engaged in changing votes.” The remarks came after the first day of his defamation trial, making clear Giuliani didn't regret accusing Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss of election fraud following Donald Trump's defeat to Joe Biden in Georgia.
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell chastised Giuliani in court the following day. Jury deliberations in the brief trial began Thursday afternoon, as NBC News reports:
Trial testimony this week lasted four days. Giuliani reversed course yesterday and said he would not take the stand in his defense, despite saying earlier that his testimony would make “definitively clear” that what he said about Freeman and Moss “was true.”
Giuliani had already been found liable. The trial was to determine damages. Freeman and Moss were seeking as much as $43.5 million in damages.
Friday's verdict drew gasps in the courtroom. Giuliani's reaction was muted.
Giuliani did not look up from his iPad when the dollar amounts were read. There was an audible gasp in the courtroom when the $75 million in punitive damages was read.
After Howell dismissed the court, Moss and Freeman took turns hugging each of their attorneys. Giuliani, meanwhile, stood alone and put his belongings in a bag without looking up.
Giuliani admitted to making false statements about Freeman and Moss in an earlier court filing, which he appeared to walk back again following the verdict.
When asked outside the courthouse if he regretted the threats the election workers received, Giuliani replied “of course,” before defending himself “The comments they received I had nothing to do with.”
“Those comments are abominable, they're deplorable.”
I receive “comments like that every day,” he added.
Moss and Freeman later expressed their gratitude for the jury's decision.
“The flame that Giuliani lit with those lies and passed to so many others to keep that flame blazing changed every aspect of our lives, our homes, our family, our work, our sense of safety, our mental health,” Moss told reporters.
She added her hope that no election worker “ever experiences anything like what we went through.”
“You all matter, and you are all important. We hope no one ever has to fight so hard just to get your name back.”
This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
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