A federal jury on Friday ordered former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani to pay more than $148 million to two Atlanta election workers he was found to have defamed by claiming they worked to deceive former President Donald Trump and exclude him from the 2020 elections.
The DC panel awarded $75 million in punitive damages to Andrea “Shaye” Moss and her mother Ruby Freeman, as well as $20 million to each woman for emotional distress after deliberating for parts of two days.
Moss also received just under $17 million for defamation, while Freeman received nearly $16.2 million.
“I don’t regret anything,” Giuliani proclaimed after the verdict, promising to appeal the ruling.
“The absurdity of the figure simply underlines the absurdity of the entire procedure, in which I have not been allowed to offer a single piece of evidence in defense, of which I have plenty.”
“I’m pretty sure that when this case comes before a fair court, it will be reversed so quickly it will make your head spin, and the absurd figure that just came in will help achieve that,” he added.
Giuliani had skipped testimony in his own defense on Thursday, telling reporters after the damages ruling that U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell had it against him from the beginning.
A federal jury on Friday ordered Rudy Giuliani to pay more than $148 million to two Atlanta election workers. AP Georgia election worker Shaye Moss, left, and her mother Ruby Freeman, right. AP
“I didn’t testify because the judge made it clear that if I made a mistake or did something bad she was considering contempt, and this judge has a reputation for putting people in jail. And I thought, honestly, it wouldn’t do any good,” she said.
“I have no doubt that my comments were made and were supported and are supported today.”
The Associated Press reported that a gasp was heard in the courtroom as the jury foreman read the $75 million award.
Giuliani was found to have defamed the workers by claiming they worked to mislead President Trump out of the 2020 election. Getty Images
Giuliani’s lawyer, Joseph Sibley, had declared Thursday that the $48 million initially demanded by both women “would be the end” of his client’s finances and told jurors to “remember that this is a great man.”
Michael Gottlieb, a lawyer for Moss and Freeman, played a video of Giuliani claiming the women were “engaged in changing votes” outside the courthouse on Monday.
“Mr. Giuliani has proven time and time again that he will not take our clients’ names out of his mouth,” Gottlieb said. “The facts will not stop him. He says he has no regrets and is telegraphing that he will do this again. Believe him “
Rudy Giuliani was seen arriving at court on Friday. JIM LO SCALZO/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Fulton County workers filed the lawsuit against the man once hailed as “America’s Mayor” in 2021, saying his false claims that they processed fraudulent ballots during the 2020 presidential election left them feeling “terrified” and They were subjected to periodic threats and racist verbal attacks. .
“Money will never solve all my problems,” Freeman told reporters outside court. “I will never be able to return to the house I call home. I will always have to be careful where I go and who I choose to share my name with. I miss my home. “I miss my neighbors and I miss my name.”
“Our greatest hope is that no one, no poll worker, voter, school board member or anyone else experiences anything like what we went through,” Moss added. “You all matter and you are all important.”
In August, Giuliani was found liable for involuntary defamation after refusing to disclose evidence to Moss and Freeman’s lawyers that included his private communications and complete financial records.
Former Georgia election worker Wandrea “Shaye” Moss is comforted by her mother, Ruby Freeman, during a hearing in 2022. AP Giuliani leaves court after Friday’s verdict. fake images
Trump’s former personal lawyer attacked the mother-daughter duo after the general election, saying they had passed a USB drive around “like vials of heroin or cocaine” to alter the Georgia election result.
Former President Donald Trump had also mentioned Freeman in his January 2, 2021 phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which Trump demanded Raffensperger “find” the 11,780 votes needed to win the state over Joe Biden.
Moss and Freeman had said they were subjected to death threats and harassment after Giuliani singled them out. JIM LO SCALZO/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Moss later testified before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot that he was giving his mother a ginger mint, and in June Georgia’s state elections board dismissed claims. fraud allegations as “baseless and baseless.”
Giuliani is also one of 18 co-defendants in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ case against Trump over his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in the Peach State.
A spokesperson for the 79-year-old did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment.
Categories: Trending
Source: vtt.edu.vn