A federal judge has ruled that Rudy Giuliani, the former lawyer of Donald Trump, must pay $148 million in damages to two Georgia election workers who sued him for defamation. The judge also ordered Giuliani to pay nearly $133,000 in sanctions for attorneys’ fees for the plaintiffs, Ruby Freeman and Wandrea’ ArShaye Moss.
Freeman and Moss are mother and daughter who worked as poll watchers for the Fulton County Board of Elections in 2020. They claim that Giuliani and others made false and defamatory statements about them, accusing them of ballot tampering and fraud. They say that these statements caused them emotional distress, reputational harm, and threats to their safety.
Giuliani has admitted that he made “false” statements about Freeman and Moss, but he has also argued that his statements were protected by freedom of speech under the First Amendment of the US Constitution. He has not acknowledged causing any damages to the plaintiffs.
The lawsuit was filed in 2021 by Freeman and Moss, who are seeking unspecified damages. A trial to determine the amount of damages will be set for later this year or early 2024. The damages could amount to thousands if not millions of dollars.
Giuliani has already been sanctioned almost $90,000 for Freeman and Moss’ attorneys’ fees in the case, but he may face additional similar sanctions. Michael Gottlieb, an attorney for Freeman and Moss, told CNN that they expect it to be a significant damages case that they will present to the jury.
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Freeman and Moss testified last year to the US House of Representatives select committee that investigated the Capitol riot how they were targeted by Giuliani’s false claims. They said they received death threats and harassment after their names were mentioned on social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. Giuliani’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the latest ruling.
