Giuliani defamation trial: Jury awards election workers nearly $150 million

Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss suffered a "perpetual nightmare," their attorney Michael Gottlieb told the jury during his opening remarks, saying that the damage they suffered warrants an "award in the tens of millions of dollars."

Gottlieb told jurors his clients suffered three types of damages -- reputation, emotional and punitive -- due to Giuliani's "defamation campaign."

In addition to the costs to "repair their reputation," Gottlieb told jurors that Freeman and Moss' award should account for lost wages, forced relocation, security expenses, and more.

-ABC News' Laura Romero

Rudy Giuliani sought to use Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss "as a cornerstone" of his campaign to denigrate the 2020 presidential election, prompting his followers to turn their ire toward the two election workers, their attorney, Von DuBose, told the jury in his opening remarks.

DuBose described how Giuliani slandered Freeman and Moss to his "massive national audience" and accused the mother and daughter of rigging ballots in President Joe Biden's favor.

"None of that -- none of that -- is true. But the millions of people who heard the lies didn't wait for confirmation," DuBose said. "And the response from those Giuliani called to action was swift. It was racist."

Dubose played audio recordings of several voicemails left on Freeman and Moss' phones after Giuliani targeted them by name, including threats of violence and racist name-calling.

Many of the voicemails cited the USB drive Giuliani falsely told Georgia state legislators that the two were "surreptitiously passing around ... as if they're vials of heroin or cocaine."

Then, DuBose said, "Words turned into action."

"Strange people" showed up at Freeman and Moss' home looking for them, DuBose said, with some attempting to "make citizens' arrests."

"This case is about how Giuliani … made their names a call to action for millions of people who did not want to believe" the results of the 2020 election, DuBose said.

Judge Beryl Howell, following a break, delivered a lengthy statement to jurors about details of the case -- including her determination that Rudy Giuliani has already been found liable for his defamatory comments.

Howell emphasized that the panel must assume that Giuliani failed to cooperate with his discovery requirements in the case in an effort to "artificially deflate" his net worth, and that jurors must understand that Giuliani benefitted financially from his defamatory comments about Freeman and Moss.

"Your job, ladies and gentlemen, is to determine the facts," Howell said.

Howell reminded jurors that their sole responsibility is to determine the damages associated with Giuliani's comments.

As Howell ticked through jury instructions, Giuliani intermittently shook his head and exchanged glances with his attorney.

The parties have selected a jury of eight D.C. residents, and attorneys for both sides are expected to present their opening statements this afternoon.

Giuliani has said that, while he "does not contest the factual allegations" made by Freeman and Moss regarding his statements, the statements themselves were constitutionally protected.

Attorneys for Freeman and Moss will attempt to articulate why their clients deserve monetary compensation for the statements Giuliani made about them, including what they say is his willful infliction of emotional distress and reputational harm.

Judge Howell swore in the jury and excused the remainder of the prospective jurors before breaking court for lunch.