Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani speaks during a news conference after his libel trial outside a federal court in Washington, Friday, Dec. 15, 2023. A jury on Friday awarded $148 million in damages to two former Georgia election workers who sued Rudy Giuliani. In 2020 the scandal over the lies he spread about them elevated their careers with racist threats and harassment.
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Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani speaks during a news conference after his libel trial outside a federal court in Washington, Friday, Dec. 15, 2023. A jury on Friday awarded $148 million in damages to two former Georgia election workers who sued Rudy Giuliani. In 2020 the scandal over the lies he spread about them elevated their careers with racist threats and harassment.
Jose Luis Magana/AP
Former Trump campaign lawyer Rudy Giuliani has been ordered to pay $148 million in defamation lawsuits between him and two former election staffers.
District Judge Beryl Howell He ruled Wednesday that Giuliani must immediately pay the sum awarded by the eight-judge jury last week. Days before that, the women sued Giuliani again, asking the courts to permanently ban him from speaking about them.
Giuliani accused Vandrea “Shay” Moss and her mother, Ruby Freeman, of tampering with a vote-counting facility in 2020 in Fulton County, Georgia.
Generally, those ordered to pay damages have 30 days before enforcement. But still In the petition filed on Monday, The women’s attorneys asked that Giuliani be granted a stay. They argue that he wants to use the time to hide his assets.
“As the court is aware, defendant Giuliani has already proven himself to be an unwilling and uncooperative attorney, including orders from this court to pay attorney’s fees and costs,” the motion states.
Howell agreed, writing that Giuliani had ignored requests for payment, “without requesting extensions of time for repayment, requesting any payment schedule, or providing any reason for not paying by the deadlines set out in the court orders.”
Vandrea “Shay” Moss, second from left, and her mother, Ruby Freeman, right, leave a federal courthouse after speaking to reporters, Friday, Dec. 15, 2023, in Washington. A jury awarded $148 million in damages to two former Georgia election workers who sued Rudy Giuliani for defamation in 2020 after racist threats and harassment upended their careers.
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Vandrea “Shay” Moss, second from left, and her mother, Ruby Freeman, right, leave a federal courthouse after speaking to reporters, Friday, Dec. 15, 2023, in Washington. A jury awarded $148 million in damages to two former Georgia election workers who sued Rudy Giuliani for defamation in 2020 after racist threats and harassment upended their careers.
Alex Brandon/AP
Giuliani said the settlement amount and the investigation proceedings were ridiculous and unfair.
“It bears no resemblance to a trial in a country with the rule of law,” he said on X, formerly known as Twitter. “I cannot provide any evidence in my contention. We have more to say and look forward to the appeal.”
The absurdity of the amount indicates the absurdity and unfairness of the whole action.
It bears no resemblance to a trial in a country governed by the rule of law. I cannot provide any evidence for my argument. We have more to say and look forward to the appeal.
– Rudy W. Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) December 15, 2023
On the same day the women filed the motion, they again sued Giuliani for defamation in federal district court in DC.
Despite being charged with defamation last Friday, Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, continues to lie about them.
“Defendant Giuliani’s statements, including his refusal to agree to refrain from continuing to make such statements, make it clear that he intends to continue the campaign of defamation and harassment targeted at him,” the complaint states. “It has to stop.”
In the days following the verdict, Moss and Freeman say, Giuliani doubled down on his claims in interviews and press conferences, saying “everything I said about them was true” and “I told the truth. They were involved in swinging votes . . .”
Moss and Freeman pleaded not guilty to any wrongdoing in the Georgia Secretary of State’s investigation.
During the trial, the women said they received death threats, racist voicemails and warnings from the FBI that their lives could be in danger.
“I feared for my life,” Moss said in his testimony last week. “I literally felt like someone was going to try to hang me, and there was nothing anyone could do about it.”
In their latest lawsuit, the women are additionally suing Giuliani for intentional infliction of emotional distress.
