Election workers in Georgia request court to caution Rudy Giuliani for repeating claims deemed defamatory by a judge

After his first day in a courtroom in Washington, DC, where a jury will decide how much he owes two former Georgia election workers for defamation, former Donald Trump campaign attorney Rudy Giuliani says everything he said about the two ladies was factual.

The federal judge presiding over the case has already decided that Giuliani disseminated false information about Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss following the 2020 election.

The defamation claims trial began Monday with jury selection and opening comments, but as court adjourned for the day, Giuliani, a former federal prosecutor and former mayor of New York City, continued to attack Freeman and Moss.

“Everything I’ve said about them is true,” Giuliani said to reporters.

“Of course I don’t regret it,” Giuliani responded when asked if he was sorry for his actions. “I told you the truth.” They were tampering with votes.”

When a reporter replied there was no proof of such an allegation, Giuliani answered, “Oh, you’re damn right, there is.” “Watch this space.”

Freeman and Moss want the trial judge to notify Giuliani that such statements from him or his lawyers are not permitted in court.

“Needless to say, were Defendant Giuliani to testify in a manner remotely resembling those comments,” the lawyers for the plaintiffs said in a court filing on this week, “he would be in plain violation of the Court’s prior orders in this case conclusively affirming, and reaffirming, that all elements of liability have been established, including that Defendant Giuliani’s defamatory statements were false.”

The trial is exposing the conduct of Trump’s lawyers and campaign in front of a Washington, DC, jury for the first time, months before the ex-president is expected to go on trial in the same courthouse on criminal charges linked to the 2020 election subversion effort. Giuliani’s efforts are also regarded in the criminal claims against Trump, and Trump, his legal team, and campaign are legally deemed co-conspirators in the defamation case.

Giuliani has already been found guilty for defamation, and he owes Freeman and Moss more than $230,000 for his failure to reply to aspects of their claim. The mother and daughter are now suing for tens of millions of dollars, saying that Giuliani singled them out when he made false charges of ballot manipulation in Georgia, putting their mental and reputational well-being at risk.

The women are asking the jury to consider paying them between $15.5 million to $43 million for the reputational harm caused by a number of specific statements made about them by Giuliani and others, including Trump and his campaign.

They are also demanding compensation for their mental suffering, attorneys’ expenses, and for the jury to fine Giuliani as “punishment for his outrageous conduct and to deter him and others” in the future – a potentially massive sum.

A decision that ‘will send a message’

Von DuBose, an attorney for Freeman and Moss, presented films and played audio recordings during opening statements in which Giuliani reiterated bogus accusations that the two poll workers filled votes and were caught on tape allegedly exchanging a USB drive as part of a vote-stealing operation.

None of those claims were accurate, and the ostensible USB drive was actually a ginger mint. On Monday, DuBose displayed one of the mints for the jury to inspect.

However, Moss and Freeman faced a barrage of threats and harassment on social media, via voicemail, and in person as a result of their claims. DuBose played disturbing voicemails received by the plaintiffs in which they were called racial slurs and other abuses. Death threats were included in several of the messages.

“Have a good life. “What’s left of it,” one guy stated in an audio clip that was played on Monday.

DuBose stated that those texts were just a small sampling of the “hundreds and hundreds of messages” and threats received by Moss and Freeman.

Giuliani’s bogus charges “had the most powerful amplifier on Earth: Donald J. Trump’s social media accounts,” another attorney for the two women, Mike Gottlieb, told the jury.

“As you hear the evidence … consider a verdict that will send a message,” Gottlieb said.

Attorney for Giuliani advocates for a reduced award amount

Giuliani’s attorney, Joseph Sibley, acknowledged in his opening remarks that some injury was done to Freeman and Moss and that the jury will award damages against his client. However, he contended that the amount requested by the plaintiffs was well in excess of what Giuliani should have to pay them as a result of his actions.

Sibley stated at one point that the plaintiffs’ damages request is “the civil equivalent of the death penalty.”

“They’re trying to end Mr. Giuliani,” he told the jurors.

“There’s really no question that these plaintiffs were harmed,” Sibley said in a statement. “They didn’t deserve what happened to them.”

However, he stated that it “involved a lot of people.” Rudy Giuliani wasn’t the only one.”

Sibley stated at one point that Freeman and Moss were seeking greater damages than actor Johnny Depp received in a slander case last year. In that instance, Depp received $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages from his ex-wife.

However, the judge presiding over Giuliani’s case made it clear that she did not want the jury to consider the circumstances of that case when deciding how much to pay Freeman and Moss.

“Mr. Sibley, let’s stick to this case,” stated District Judge Beryl Howell.

Giuliani expected to testify

The former New York City mayor is scheduled to testify in his own defense, but his lawyer said last week that he didn’t know if Giuliani would invoke his Fifth Amendment rights on the stand.

Moss and Freeman’s team, on the other hand, intends to show the jury video of other Trump campaign participants, such as attorney Jenna Ellis, taking the Fifth Amendment and refusing to answer questions during her deposition.

While Giuliani admitted in July that he made defamatory statements about Moss and Freeman, he attempted to argue that his comments on voter fraud in Georgia in the 2020 election were protected speech.

However, in August, Giuliani was unable to comply with the subpoenaed information, as determined by Howell, and thus lost the lawsuit.

Howell dismissed Giuliani’s claims of being mired in litigation fees as “a cloak of victimization.”

CNN has reported that Giuliani is trying to cover the costs of the multiple legal issues he faces linked to his work for Trump beyond the 2020 election, and in an August court filing, Giuliani stated that he is effectively out of money.

To alleviate some of the financial strain, Giuliani listed his three-bedroom Manhattan apartment for $6.5 million, which Howell used to argue that Giuliani could pay the damages, along with a reimbursement from Trump and his travel on a private plane when he was processed in Fulton County for Georgia election subversion.

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