- The Washington DC jury has been sent to deliberately award damages of up to $48 million
- Giuliani said Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss manipulated the ballots and helped steal the 2020 election
Rudy Giuliani could face an even deeper financial disaster today as a jury in Washington DC deliberates over how much he will have to pay to the Georgia election workers he defamed.
The panel is considering damages of up to $48 million for Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, the “American mayor” who repeatedly claimed they rigged ballots and helped steal the election.
The jury began arguments late Thursday and will begin again Friday after Giuliani's attorney Joe Sibley compared him to a “flat Earth” who will “never stop believing election lies” and blamed his age, 79, for some of his behavior .
His legal team has said it would be a 'death penalty' if he is forced to hand over the huge sum.
Giuliani has faced a mountain of financial problems defending multiple lawsuits and was forced to put his Manhattan co-op up for sale for $6.5 million.
Rudy Giuliani could face an even deeper financial disaster today as a jury in Washington DC deliberates over how much he will have to pay to the Georgia election workers he defamed.
Plaintiffs' attorney Michael Gottlieb asked the jury to “send a message” by hitting the former New York mayor with a hefty financial judgment.
Their legal team brought in an expert witness, Ashlee Humphreys of Northwestern University, who said they should be paid $18 million to $48 million to compensate for the loss to their reputation, which came after Giuliani repeatedly invoked them while acting as a key figure in Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
Humphreys said in court this week that there was a huge outburst of online disinformation about them after Giuliani and former President Donald Trump accused them of manipulating vote counts.
She said she had received hundreds of racist messages and threats, including messages saying “we know where you sleep” and “you are dead.”
The judge overseeing the case had already entered a default judgment against him, while the trial was mainly a matter of reaching an assessment of the damages Giuliani must pay.
It resulted in 33 million online impressions of Freeman, who called Trump a “professional vote cheat.” his phone conversation with Georgian Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger – in an episode that is part of a separate criminal trial in Georgia.
Giuliani was expected to appear in his own defense. But after he announced on Wednesday that he intended to do so, his lawyer ultimately did not call him.
The panel is considering damages of up to $48 million for Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, the “American Mayor” who repeatedly claimed they rigged ballots and helped steal the election.
The jury began arguments late Thursday and will begin again Friday after Giuliani's attorney Joe Sibley compared him to a “flat Earth” who will “never stop believing election lies” and blamed his age, 79, for some of his behaviour.
It came after a trial in which Giuliani's lawyer faced a difficult set of facts and a talkative client.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell warned Giuliani about his appearance on a podcast, where he called the case a “political blow” and attacked the integrity of the group of attorneys arrayed against him.
He had said “there might be a few questions about exactly how political this is” and had said money “comes from different directions.”
After being warned directly, Giuliani told the judge that “I thought I could comment on counsel,” but promised not to do so in the future.
The judge didn't believe it and said so. “A lot of accidents happen here, Mr. Giuliani,” she said.
The verdict comes as Giuliani faces criminal liability after being indicted as part of a conspiracy to overturn the election on Trump's behalf in that state. He has denied being guilty of the charges against him.
Giuliani had alleged that Moss and Freeman pulled “suitcases” full of ballots during the counting at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, claiming they inserted a USB drive into voting machines. But that of the Georgian Minister of Foreign Affairs research felt that the claims circulating online against them 'have no value whatsoever'.