Rudy Giuliani ordered to pay $146 million to Georgia election workers by judge
A federal judge has ruled that Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, former Georgia election workers, can now pursue the enforcement of their $146 million financial judgment against Rudy Giuliani. The judge’s decision is based on the belief that there is a strong likelihood that Giuliani will not comply with the judgment.
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell stated in her order that Giuliani’s inability to meet even smaller financial obligations in this case indicates a likelihood of him attempting to hide or dispose of his assets within the next 30 days.
Freeman and Moss have been granted permission to pursue Giuliani’s assets in both New York and Florida.
In a recent legal case in Washington, D.C., a jury consisting of eight individuals awarded Freeman and Moss a substantial amount of over $148 million in damages. This decision was made after the judge found Giuliani responsible for repeatedly defaming them by falsely accusing them of engaging in election fraud in Georgia during the 2020 presidential election. However, in a recent order, Judge Howell reduced the verdict by approximately $2 million to account for the damages that Freeman and Moss had already received through a settlement with the TV network OAN, the other defendant in the case.
In response to Giuliani’s argument, Howell rejected the notion that she was “abnormally shortening” the automatic 30-day stay after the verdict. She emphasized that considering the circumstances of the case, there was nothing unusual about the plaintiffs’ request. In fact, she deemed it appropriate and justified, taking into account Giuliani’s behavior throughout the proceedings.
Howell held Giuliani accountable as a consequence for consistently disregarding court orders that mandated him to surrender evidence, including financial records, to Freeman and Moss. Moreover, he disregarded directives to compensate their legal counsel with over $200,000 in fees for their efforts in enforcing the said orders.
According to Judge Howell, Giuliani has not denied that he has ignored the Court’s orders to pay for the attorney’s fees and costs related to the successful discovery motions made by the plaintiffs.
According to her, Freeman and Moss have expressed concerns about Giuliani’s mounting debts. However, she remains doubtful about his claims of being broke due to his persistent refusal to disclose his financial information.
According to Howell, it is challenging to reconcile the repeated claims of Giuliani’s financial difficulties with the fact that he has a spokesperson who accompanies him to trial on a daily basis. Additionally, Giuliani has not provided evidence to support his inability to pay the amount he owes.
The spokesperson for Giuliani did not provide an immediate response when asked for a comment regarding the ruling.
Giuliani finds the size of the verdict to be “absurd.”
In her order on Wednesday, Howell stated that she did not find the amount to be excessive.
According to the author, the jury awarded a lower amount of compensatory damages for defamation than what the plaintiffs had requested for reputational harm. However, the author also highlights that the jury’s award of $75 million for punitive damages was significantly less than what it could have been.
The jury had been instructed by Howell to consider multiplying the total amount awarded for reputational and emotional harm by four if they deemed it necessary. This amounted to roughly the same total as what the pair had initially been awarded.
Giuliani has the option to appeal the judgment; however, in order to do so, he would be required to post a bond of $146 million – the full amount owed to Freeman and Moss. If he is unable to provide a bond of this magnitude, he will have to convince Howell to either waive or reduce the bond requirement.
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