Rudy Giuliani Ordered To Pay $148 Million In Damages For Defaming Two Georgia Election Workers With False Election Claims

On Friday afternoon, a jury in Washington, D.C., ordered former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani to pay two Georgia election workers $148 million for false and defamatory claims he made about them.

After the 2020 election, on behalf of former President Donald Trump, Giuliani publicly alleged that Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, two election workers involved in ballot counts in Fulton County, Georgia, engaged in election fraud.

In August, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell ruled in favor of Freeman and Moss and awarded them a default judgment. The ongoing trial aimed to determine the extent of the damages and the penalties that Giuliani will be required to pay as a result.

Freeman and Moss seek compensation from $15.5 million to an amount in the $40 million range.

The jury determined the amount of damages Giuliani will be obligated to pay as compensation for the defamation of the two women, as well as the appropriate amount of damages to be awarded for the emotional distress caused by Giuliani’s actions.

The jury awarded the $14 million apiece for defamation and $20 million for emotional distress. They awarded them $75 in punitive damages.

Freeman and Moss’s lawyers had requested that each woman be awarded $24 million in defamation damages.

Giuliani’s attorney, Joseph Sibley, acknowledged his client’s wrongdoing against Freeman and Moss but appealed to the jury to impose a more reasonable penalty than the substantial sum requested by the plaintiffs.

After the jurors departed to continue their deliberations, Judge Howell addressed the subsequent actions in the case, particularly the potential future defamatory remarks by Giuliani about Freeman and Moss.

John Langford, Freeman’s lawyer, stated their intention to request a court order that would prohibit Giuliani from any further defamatory statements about his clients.

Judge Howell inquired about the practicality of such enforcement and questioned whether they expected it to be imposed indefinitely, either for her lifetime or for Giuliani’s. She further stated her reluctance to repeatedly bring Giuliani back to court each time he makes a defamatory statement.

She joked, “I don’t think Mr. Giuliani wants to appear in front of me any more than I want to see him.”