Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani has admitted that he made “false” statements about two Georgia election officials he accused of rigging the 2020 election.
In an overnight court filing signed by Guiliani, Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer conceded that he does not contest the allegations made in a defamation suit brought by Peach State elections workers Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea “Shay” Moss.
“The Defendant Giuliani, for the purposes of this litigation only, does not contest that … such actionable factual statements are false,” the filing, shared by Politico reporter Kyle Cheney, reads.
However, Guiliani, 79, insisted that his statements “did not carry meaning that is defamatory, per se” and that they are “constitutionally protected statements or opinions.”
The two election workers filed a defamation suit against Giuliani, once “America’s mayor,” and conservative news network One America News Network (OAN) in December 2021, accusing them of spreading false claims they had committed election fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
A heavily edited clip of security footage was widely circulated online and by Trump allies at the time as supposed proof of fraud.
Guiliani accused the mother-daughter duo of passing USB drives “like vials of heroin or cocaine” while they were counting ballots.
Moss later revealed to the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot that her mother handed her a ginger mint.
Georgia’s State Election Board dismissed its yearslong investigation into alleged election fraud in June and officially cleared Freeman and Moss.
The fraud claims were “unsubstantiated and found to have no merit,” the investigation concluded, NBC reported.
