Jury Slaps Giuliani With $148M in Damages in Defamation Case
WASHINGTON — After a four-day civil trial, a jury of eight District of Columbia residents awarded two Georgia workers more than $148 million in their defamation case against Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor turned Trump acolyte.
Giuliani was found liable for defaming Ruby Freeman and her daughter Shaye Moss in a default judgment in August after he refused to turn over evidence during the discovery phase of the proceedings.
Both women had claimed they were subject to unrelenting harassment and threats due to Giuliani’s repeated claims that they helped rig the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia in favor of Joe Biden.
The trial this week focused almost entirely on determining what damages an apparently unrepentant Giuliani should pay for his baseless conduct.
Just before deliberations began, Freeman and Moss asked for compensation of about $47 million. After 10 hours behind closed doors, the jury awarded them more than three times as much — a total of $148.7 million.
Freeman is slated to receive about $16.2 million for the defamation itself and another $20 million for emotional distress.
Moss will receive nearly $17 million for defamation and $20 million for emotional distress.
In addition both women will share in an award of $75 million in punitive damages.
In the wake of the 2020 election it was Giuliani who time and again appeared to be leading the former president’s unsuccessful effort to overturn Biden’s victory by almost any means necessary.
When it came to Georgia and the vote count, Giuliani focused at length on Freeman and Moss, accusing them of stuffing the ballot box — alleging they literally pulled handfuls of ballots favorable to Biden from suitcases hidden under a table.
Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue
