Prior to the unexpected announcement this morning that Rudy Giuliani will not testify in his own defense, the former mayor had repeatedly told reporters that he looked forward to presenting his side of the story at trial.

"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," Giuliani told ABC News' Terry Moran on Monday.

When court reconvened the following morning, on Tuesday, a visibly frustrated Judge Beryl Howell admonished Giuliani, suggesting his remarks "could support another defamation claim."

She reiterated the court's prior ruling that Giuliani's allegations against Freeman and Moss were untrue and cautioned him against raising arguments that she has already ruled on.

In an unexpected twist, Rudy Giuliani will not testify in his defamation trial, an attorney said as court convened this morning.

Giuliani told reporters on Wednesday that he "intends" to testify today in his own defense.

In a preview of what he might have said on the stand, Giuliani claimed he "had nothing to do with any of those" racist voicemails and emails shown in court.

Leaving court, Rudy Giuliani said he had nothing do to with the racially charged messages to Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss that were presented in court.

"I had nothing to do with any of those," Giuliani told reporters.

"My name isn't there. It doesn't refer to me," the former mayor said. "I don't even know who those people are."

Ruby Freeman stepped down from the witness stand after almost 90 minutes of emotional testimony as the final witness in her and her daughter's case against Rudy Giuliani.

The defense rested its case, and Judge Howell sent jurors home for the day.

Court was subsequently adjourned until tomorrow, when the defense is scheduled to present its case.

Giuliani is expected to take the stand.

Jurors were shown a smattering of the racially charged threats Ruby Freeman received after video of her and her daughter counting ballots at State Farm Arena on election night circulated online.

The emails flooded her inbox on the night of Dec. 3, 2020, with several invoking lynching and references to the Ku Klux Klan.

One email, from an account called Grand Wizard with the email name "kkk" said, "Safest place for you right now is in prison. Or you will swing from the trees."

Another suggested the government hang her and her daughter from the "Capitol dome," saying, "I pray that I will be sitting close enough to hear your necks snap!"

Several of the messages accused her of being a traitor or "SCUM."

"I received so many on my phone that at one point my phone crashed," Freeman testified. "I felt horrible. I felt terrorized. I was scared … people are coming to kill me. They have my address, they have my phone number, they know my name."

Freeman testified that two days later, on Dec. 5, 2020, people began to show up at her house and she was forced to call the authorities.

While on the phone with police, Freeman said people were "banging" on her door.

"Not only am I getting phone calls and emails and stuff, now you're actually coming to the house," Freeman testified. "I was scared."