Jurors mull penalty Giuliani must pay for Ga. election lies
WASHINGTON — Jurors began deliberating Thursday to decide how much Rudy Giuliani must pay two former Georgia election workers for spreading lies about them that led to a barrage of racist threats and upended their lives.
The jury left for the day without announcing a decision and were expected to resume deliberations Friday at Washington’s federal courthouse.
Wandrea “Shaye” Moss and her mother, Ruby Freeman, are seeking tens of millions of dollars in damages over Giuliani’s false claims accusing them of ballot fraud while the former New York City mayor was fighting to keep Republican Donald Trump in the White House after the November 2020 election won by Democrat Joe Biden.
The potential damages come as Giuliani is gearing up to defend himself against criminal charges stemming from his legal representation of Trump. Giuliani’s lawyer told jurors the damages the women are seeking “would be the end of Mr. Giuliani.”
In his closing argument, an attorney for Moss and Freeman highlighted how Giuliani has not stopped repeating the false conspiracy theory asserting the workers meddled in the 2020 election. Attorney Michael Gottlieb played a video of Giuliani outside the courthouse this week repeating the false claims about his clients. Giuliani had previously conceded in court documents that he made public comments falsely accusing the women of ballot fraud.
“Mr. Giuliani has shown over and over again he will not take our client’s names out of his mouth,” he said. “Facts will not stop him. He says he isn’t sorry and he’s telegraphing he will do this again. Believe him.”
Giuliani’s attorney acknowledged that his client was wrong, but insisted that he was not fully responsible for the vitriol the women faced. He sought to largely pin the blame on a right-wing website that published the surveillance video of the women counting ballots.
Gottlieb described Freeman and Moss as “heroes,” adding that “after everything they went through, they stood up and said, ‘no more.’ ”
The pair’s lawyers are asking for at least $24 million for each woman in defamation damages. They’re also seeking compensation for emotional harm and punitive damages.
Giuliani’s lawyer has argued there is no evidence Giuliani encouraged the harassment. Sibley told jurors that right-wing website Gateway Pundit was “patient zero” in spreading the conspiracy theory about the women, and said Giuliani was sued because he is “patient deep pockets.”
Giuliani’s defense rested Thursday without calling a single witness after the former mayor reversed course and decided not to take the stand.
Giuliani’s lawyer said his client was not testifying because Freeman and Moss had “been through enough.” His testimony also could have been used against him in the criminal case in Georgia.