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.

Judge Howell criticized key arguments presented at trial by Rudy Giuliani's attorney before jurors entered the courtroom this morning, reiterating her prior rulings that the former mayor's rhetoric about Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss was "totally false."

Howell was responding to a last-ditch effort by Giuliani attorney Joseph Sibley to seek a ruling that plaintiffs had failed to meet the burden of proving their case, known as a Rule 50 motion.

Howell denied that motion, and in the process took aim at arguments core to Sibley's case -- as well as comments Giuliani had made outside of court.

"The powerful testimony of these Georgia officials demonstrated again and again and again" that those allegations were "totally false," Howell said of earlier testimony from two Georgia investigators that there was no evidence of election fraud.

Freeman and Moss organized "no highfalutin strategy like the one Giuliani" coordinated on behalf of former President Donald Trump, the judge added.

Howell took particular issue with Sibley's attempt to claim that no amount of money could change the mind of those who believe the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. Sibley compared them to "flat-Earthers," who believe, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, that the Earth is flat.