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

Shaye Moss broke into tears under a line of questioning from defense attorney Joseph Sibley about the adverse health effects she attributes to Giuliani's defamatory statements about her.

Sibley asked Moss to repeat the names of two mental health diagnoses she received from therapists since the 2020 election. When Moss intimated that she had additional ailments that could be tied to Giuliani's conduct, Sibley asked, "What other issues do you have?"

Moss' attorney objected to the question. As the judge consulted privately with counsel from both parties, Moss held her hands to her face and could be seen wiping tears from her cheeks.

Shortly before this exchange, Moss said her mental anguish had been exacerbated by her inability to work. She described conversations with her therapist about taking time to heal before jumping back into a job.

"Before, I had purpose, at least," Moss said. Now, she said, "most days I pray God won't wake me up and I disappear."

Under cross-examination by Giuliani attorney Joseph Sibley, Shaye Moss was asked how she could be sure that it was his client's remarks that inspired throngs of strangers to level racist and vile threats against her and her family.

Moss said those strangers "were parroting his exact words."

She testified that right-wing news outlet Gateway Pundit and the Trump campaign used language similar to Giuliani's in smearing her.

"It was like the torch for the Olympics," she said. "They pass it from person to person to person."

Shaye Moss returned to the witness stand after the midday break to be questioned by Giuliani attorney Joseph Sibley, who asked her about her efforts to rehabilitate her reputation -- probing what steps she has taken to mend her name online.

Moss said she had pays a service $140 per year to monitor her name online and protect her identity, but that "it's incredibly difficult" to repair her reputation "when powerful people keep spewing lies about us."

"How could you work in law if people were saying, like, that you were a horrible lawyer?" Moss asked Sibley.

"You'd be surprised," Sibley quipped.

Asked how much money she believes she is owed for Giuliani's lies, Moss said, "I'm relying on the experts."

"I want to vindicate myself," she said. "I want to receive some type of justice."

It wasn't just Moss and Freeman who bore the brunt of Giuliani's false fraud accusations, Shaye Moss testified. Her grandmother and son also suffered after the former mayor falsely accused Moss and Freeman by name.

"I feel like it's my fault. Maybe if I was satisfied being in the mail room ... then maybe it would not have happened," Moss said regarding her promotion to election worker.

Moss said her 16-year-old son struggled in school after being exposed to racist threats against their family -- and went from a comic-obsessed "bookworm" to flunking the ninth grade.

"Racism is real. And it comes out," Moss recalled telling him. "I felt like the worst mom ever to allow him to have to hear this, to experience this day after day after day."

Moss also said she harbors guilt for the treatment of her grandmother. Strangers would repeatedly send pizzas to her house under fake, racist names, Moss testified. The delivery person would expect payment upon arrival, she said.

"My grandmother has lived through all this racist crap. I mean, we're from Georgia ... miles and miles of cotton fields as we drive to the beach," Moss said. "It's history, but we have to go through this."