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

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

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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Plaintiffs to call expert on reputation repair

Day 3 of the trial is scheduled to begin with a witness deposition video, finishing up the series of deposition videos that was played in court yesterday.

Plaintiffs' attorney are then expected to call an expert witness to the stand to testify about the impact of Giuliani's statements.

The testimony is expected to address the estimated cost to repair the damage done to Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman's reputations.


Giuliani refrains from commenting on case

After court was adjourned for the day, Rudy Giuliani told reporters outside court that he would not comment on the case after the judge slammed the remarks he made after court Monday.

"I'm not going to discuss the case anymore because it seemed to get the judge annoyed," he told reporters.

Court will resume Wednesday morning.


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.


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.


Moss says she felt like 'worst mom' for exposing son to racist threats

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."