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.

Prospective jurors are commonly asked to divulge any affiliations with parties in the case, or preconceived views about them. But in this case -- a heavily politicized matter involving election lies -- Judge Howell's questioning has veered into some of the cryptic slogans of the far-right movement.

Howell is asking prospective jurors whether they had ever used the expression "Let's Go Brandon" -- a common refrain among President Joe Biden's detractors -- or the hashtag "WWG1WGA," a motto associated with the QAnon movement.

She is also asking jurors whether they follow Giuliani's social media channels.

The prospective jurors reflect the unique makeup of nation’s capitol. Among those who have been questioned: a Defense Department official, a U.S. Forest Service official, a Defense Intelligence Agency official, and a woman who had worked for the Girl Scouts.

In a filing late Monday, attorneys for Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss are accusing Rudy Giuliani and his attorney of crafting arguments at trial that run afoul of the court's prior ruling that Giuliani's defamatory statements about the mother and daughter were false.

The filing cites ABC News' reporting on correspondent Terry Moran's exchange with Giuliani as the former mayor departed court, during which Giuliani said that he "told the truth" about Freeman and Moss "changing votes," and that he should not be held accountable for the conduct of "other people overreacting."

"According to public news reports, upon leaving the courthouse, Defendant Giuliani stopped to say to an assembled group of the press: 'When I testify, the whole story will be definitively clear that what I said was true, and that, whatever happened to them -- which is unfortunate about other people overreacting -- everything I said about them is true,'" the filing says, quoting ABC News' report.

"Needless to say," attorneys for Freeman and Moss write, "were Defendant Giuliani to testify in a manner remotely resembling those comments, he would be in plain violation of the Court's prior orders in this case conclusively affirming, and reaffirming, that all elements of liability have been established, including that Defendant Giuliani's defamatory statements were false."

Judge Howell in August awarded a default judgment to the plaintiffs, leaving the current trial to determine the amount of damages and any penalties Giuliani will have to pay. In their late Monday filing, the plaintiffs' attorneys urged Howell to "instruct counsel for Defendant Giuliani that he has violated and is prohibited from further violating the Court's orders by making arguments contrary to its prior evidentiary rulings."