Judge will weigh holding Giuliani in contempt after $148 million defamation award
WASHINGTON — A federal judge will hear arguments Friday on whether the case should be stayed Rudy Giuliani in contempt of court for continuing to spread lies about two election workers in Georgia after they received a Defamation judgment worth $148 million against him.
Plaintiffs’ lawyers have asked US District Judge Beryl Howell in Washington DC to impose civil contempt sanctions on Giuliani, the former New York City mayor who served as Donald Trump’s lawyer. They say Giuliani has continued to falsely accuse Wandrea “Shaye” Moss and her mother, Ruby Freeman, of committing election fraud in connection with the 2020 election.
Moss and Freeman sued Giuliani, saying he their lives turned upside down with racist threats and intimidation. A jury in December 2023 sided with the mother and daughter, who are Black, and awarded them $75 million in damages, plus about $73 million in other damages.
“Mr. Giuliani began lying about the Plaintiffs in December 2020 and refused to stop after being repeatedly told that his election-rigging conspiracy theory about the Plaintiffs was baseless, malicious, and dangerous,” the plaintiffs’ lawyers wrote.
Giuliani’s lawyers argued that prosecutors have not presented “clear and convincing” evidence that he violated a court order in the defamation case in comments he made on podcasts in November about alleged irregularities in counting ballots in Georgia.
“Giuliani acted in good faith in the belief that his comments did not violate the judgment and that he should not be subject to contempt sanctions.” his lawyers wrote.
If Howell holds Giuliani, a Republican, in contempt of court, she would be the second federal judge to do so this week. Monday in New York, Judge Lewis Liman found Giuliani in contempt of court over related claims that he failed to turn over evidence to help the judge decide whether he can keep a condominium in Palm Beach, Florida.
Giuliani, who testified in Liman’s Manhattan courtroom on Jan. 3, said he did not turn over everything because he believed the requests were too broad, inappropriate or even a “trap” set by the plaintiffs’ lawyers.
Giuliani, 80, said inside a court file that he will attend Friday’s hearing for Howell, despite travel-related concerns about his health and safety. He said he is receiving death threats and has been told to be careful when traveling.
“I had hoped that the Court would understand and accommodate my needs. However, it appears I was mistaken,” he said in the filing.
On the witness stand, Moss and Freeman described fearing for their lives after becoming targets of a false conspiracy theory that Giuliani and other Republicans spread as they tried to keep Trump in power after he lost the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden . Moss told jurors she tried to change her appearance, rarely leaves her home and suffers from panic attacks.
“Money will never solve all my problems,” Freeman told reporters after the jury’s verdict. “I can never go back to the house I call home. I will always have to be careful about where I go and who I share my name with. I miss my home. I miss my neighbors and I miss my name.”