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

The amount is three times as much as plaintiffs were seeking.

ByLucien Bruggeman and Laura Romero
Last Updated: December 12, 2023, 5:08 PM EST

Following a week-long trial, a federal jury has ordered former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani to pay nearly $150 million to former Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Wandrea "Shaye" Moss for defaming them with false accusations that the mother and daughter committed election fraud while the two were counting ballots in Georgia's Fulton County on Election Day in 2020.

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in August awarded a default judgment to the two women, leaving the trial to determine the full scope of the damages and penalties. Freeman and Moss were seeking between $15.5 million and an amount in the $40 million range.

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Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Dec 12, 2023, 5:08 PM EST

Court adjourns for the day

Following Shaye Moss' testimony and the playing of several video depositions, Day 2 of the trial adjourned for the day.

When court resumes on Wednesday, Michael Gottlieb, an attorney for Freeman and Moss, said he plans to show one final deposition video of poll observer Pamela Michelle Branton.

Plaintiffs' attorneys also plan to call an expert witness to testify about the impacts of Giuliani's false accusations, according to court papers filed in the case.

Dec 12, 2023, 4:55 PM EST

Attorneys play video depositions from Giuliani aides

Attorneys for Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss played excerpts from previously recorded video depositions with Trump associate Bernie Kerik and attorneys Christina Bobb, and Jenna Ellis in part to demonstrate Giuliani's leading role in efforts to uncover evidence of systemic election fraud.

They never found it.

Kerik, the former police commissioner in New York City, described a document in the team's legal playbook, which included a section about Freeman. Bobb, a onetime attorney for then-President Trump, described the makeup of Giuliani's legal team.

In the recording of Ellis, a former Trump attorney, she repeatedly invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination as attorneys for the two women peppered her with questions about her work with Giuliani in the aftermath of the election.

Dec 12, 2023, 4:20 PM EST

Shaye Moss concludes testimony

Shaye Moss concluded her testimony after several hours on the witness stand.

Excerpts from a taped video deposition with Giuliani associate Bernie Kerik, the former police commissioner of New York City, is next on the docket.

Kerik worked with Giuliani to try overturn the results of the 2020 election. He received a pardon from then-President Trump earlier that year on felony fraud charges dating to 2009.

Dec 12, 2023, 4:01 PM EST

Moss describes 'homework' from therapist

Shaye Moss grew so fearful for her life after threats poured in that she stopped going out in public, and only recently, she testified, did she build up the courage to leave her home alone, without security.

She did so at the behest of her therapist.

"That was actually her homework for me," Moss said of her therapist's request that she visit a public place by herself.

"I did once," Moss said. She testified that she drove alone to a local restaurant, where she found a quiet seat located at the end of the bar.

"I was so terrified. I felt extremely nauseous," she said. "I was very proud of myself. But unfortunately I have not been able to do that again."

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