WASHINGTON — A trial starting Monday in Washington will determine how much Rudy Giuliani will have to pay two Georgia election workers he falsely accused of fraud while advancing Donald Trump's baseless claims after losing the 2020 election.
The former mayor of New York City has already been found liable in the defamation lawsuit brought by Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, who faced threats and intimidation after becoming targets of a conspiracy theory pushed by Trump and his allies was dispersed. The only issue to be resolved at the trial — which will begin with jury selection in Washington federal court — is the amount of any damages Giuliani must pay.
The case is among a host of legal and financial troubles for Giuliani, who was feted as “America's mayor” in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack and became one of the most ardent promoters of Trump's election lies after he lost to President Joe Biden. .
Giuliani also faces criminal charges along with Trump and others in the Georgia case, accusing them of illegally overturning the state's election results. He has pleaded not guilty and claims he had every right to ask questions about what he believes was election fraud.
He was sued in September by a former lawyer who alleged Giuliani paid only a fraction of about $1.6 million in legal fees resulting from investigations into his efforts to keep Trump in the White House. And the judge overseeing the lawsuit against the election workers has already ordered Giuliani and his business entities to pay tens of thousands of dollars in attorneys' fees.
Moss had worked for the Fulton County Elections Department since 2012, overseeing absentee voting during the 2020 election. Freeman was a temporary elections worker, verifying signatures on absentee ballots and preparing them for counting and processing.
Giuliani and other Trump allies used surveillance footage to spread a conspiracy theory that election workers were removing fraudulent ballots from suitcases. The claims were quickly debunked by election officials in Georgia, who found no improper counting of ballots.
The women say the false claims led to a barrage of violent threats and intimidation, at one point forcing Freeman to flee her home for more than two months. In emotional testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol, Moss said he had received a barrage of threatening and racist messages.
In her August decision finding Giuliani liable in the case, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell said he had paid “mere lip service” in meeting his legal obligations and had failed to turn over information requested by the mother and daughter. The judge said in October that Giuliani had flagrantly ignored an order to provide documents about his personal and business assets. She said jurors determining the amount of damages will be told to “infer” that Giuliani deliberately tried to hide financial documents in hopes of “artificially draining his wealth.”
Giuliani admitted in July to making public comments falsely claiming Freeman and Moss had committed fraud in an attempt to change the outcome of the race during the counting of ballots at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. But Giuliani argued that the statements were protected by the First Amendment.
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Richer reported from Boston.
