Rudy Giuliani.  Phototgraph – The Wall Street Journal.

Dear Commons Community,

A jury said former Trump campaign lawyer Rudy Giuliani must pay $148 million for falsely accusing two Georgia election workers of rigging the 2020 presidential contest.

The stunning verdict in favor of Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Shaye Moss, is the latest humiliation for the former New York City mayor in his remarkable fall from grace. It also marks another instance of those smeared by postelection conspiracy theories clearing their names through civil lawsuits.

Giuliani was ordered to pay each woman more than $36 million in compensatory damages and to pay another $75 million in punitive damages. Those figures far exceed amounts his lawyer told jurors earlier in the week “would be the end of Mr. Giuliani,” who earlier said in court filings that he was in financial trouble.

Emerging from court on Friday, Giuliani said he would appeal.  As reported by
The Wall Street Journal.

“The absurdity of the number really underscores the absurdity of the entire proceeding,” Giuliani said.

“I am quite confident that when this case gets before a fair tribunal, it will be reversed so quickly it’ll make your head spin,” he added. “The absurd number that just came in will help that, actually.”

Appeals courts frequently reduce punitive-damage awards. The plaintiffs’ lawyers asked for $24 million for each woman in compensatory damages for defamation alone. They requested that the jury come back with appropriate amounts to compensate their clients for intentional infliction of emotional distress and for punitive damages.

Outside court, Freeman said Giuliani wasn’t alone in spreading lies about her and Moss, “and others must be held accountable, too.”

“But that is tomorrow’s work,” Freeman said. “For now, I want people to understand this: Money will never solve all my problems. I can never move back into the house that I called home. I will always have to be careful about where I go, and who I choose to share my name with. I miss my home, I miss my neighbors, and I miss my name.”

 

Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Shaye Moss.  Photograph – The Wall Street Journal.

A judge had already found Giuliani liable for defamation, so the weeklong trial dealt solely with the question of how much he should pay to the two women, who went into hiding amid a barrage of death threats from supporters of former President Donald Trump.

Punitive damages are a rare penalty, meant to punish outrageous conduct and deter others. Moss and Freeman both delivered emotional testimony about how the false claims upended their lives, cost them employment opportunities, and made them live in fear.

Giuliani’s lawyer Joseph Sibley cited the testimony of the plaintiffs, especially Freeman, as a factor in his courtroom approach.

“We made the decision not to ask her any questions—enough was out—and ultimately made the decision not to have my client even testify, because we feel like these women have been through enough,” Sibley said on Thursday as the trial wrapped up.

Sibley struck a conciliatory tone during his opening statement on Monday, saying Freeman and Moss were good people but were seeking an unjust and unrealistic amount from Giuliani.

Later that day, outside the courtroom, Giuliani undermined that messaging by telling reporters that he would testify and prove that everything he said about Moss and Freeman fabricating ballots was true.

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell said the next day that Giuliani’s comments during the press conference “could support another defamation claim.”

“My client, as you saw last night, likes to talk a lot, unfortunately,” Sibley said. In the end, Sibley didn’t put any witnesses on the stand as part of his defense.

On election night, Moss and Freeman were among the county workers who tabulated ballots at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. Giuliani spread a false theory that video footage showed them removing ballots from suitcases underneath tables.

Giuliani repeatedly disparaged the two women—both of whom are Black—once even falsely claiming that video footage of Freeman handing her daughter a ginger mint showed them passing around USB drives “like vials of heroin or cocaine.”

Howell, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, has overseen the civil defamation case for two years. In August, she found Giuliani liable for defamation and the tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress.

She said that Giuliani repeatedly flouted his obligations to turn over evidence in the case and that this “willful discovery misconduct” was egregious enough to warrant an automatic judgment against him.

Giuliani has criticized Howell for imposing such harsh penalties on him, saying the legal system is being weaponized against him. He is likely to appeal the damages verdict and Howell’s earlier orders.

It might be difficult for the plaintiffs to collect the damages award from him.

Sibley said in an August court filing that his client was having “financial difficulties” and needed more time to pay a $90,000 sanction imposed on him by Howell.

Robert Costello, a lawyer who represented Giuliani in several other matters, sued him in September over an unpaid $1.4 million legal bill. The Internal Revenue Service put a lien on Giuliani’s property in Florida to cover an outstanding $550,000 tax debt, according to court records.

Giuliani has also been sued for defamation by Smartmatic USA Corp. and Dominion Voting Systems, two voting software companies he falsely accused of flipping votes from Trump to President Biden. Those cases are pending.

Dominion secured a $787.5 million settlement with Fox News in April. Fox News parent Fox Corp.shares common ownership with News Corp, parent of Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones & Co.

Giuliani also faces criminal charges in Georgia related to his postelection conduct. He was charged along with Trump and others in a sweeping racketeering case brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. Giuliani and Trump have pleaded not guilty in that case

Giuliani should have spoken with attorney Michael Cohen before he tied his destiny to Trump.

Justice served!

Tony