WASHINGTON – Jurors in the Rudy Giuliani defamation trial will return Friday to continue deliberating how much he must pay two former Fulton County election workers who he falsely accused of voting fraud.
On Thursday jurors began deliberations in the trial of a lawsuit brought by the election workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss. They met for about three and a half hours but did not reach a verdict before breaking for the day.
The deliberations began after an attorney for Freeman and Moss argued Giuliani should pay at least $48 million in compensatory damages - $24 million each – for destroying their lives and reputations with false allegations that they stuffed ballots to aid Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump in the 2020 election.
Attorney Michael Gottlieb also sought unspecified damages for intentional infliction of emotional distress, as well as punitive damages to punish Giuliani for “outrageous” behavior that he said continued even during the trial.
In his closing argument, Gottlieb urged jurors to “send a message” that such behavior is unacceptable.
“Send it to Mr. Giuliani,” Gottlieb said. “Send it to any other powerful figure with a platform and an audience who is considering whether they will take this chance to seek profit and fame by assassinating the character of ordinary people.”
In his own closing argument, Giuliani attorney Joseph Sibley argued his client isn’t responsible for much of the damages the plaintiffs suffered. And while he agreed Giuliani owed them something, he said the damages should be based on actual out-of-pocket costs, not the “Hollywood-type damages” model the plaintiffs had proposed.
Sibley also cited Giuliani’s history as a prosecutor who took on the mob and the mayor who led New York City after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
“I know these women have been harmed,” Sibley said. “I’m not asking for a hall pass. I’m asking you to remember this is a man who’s done great things.”
Three years ago Giuliani led Trump’s legal team as it sought to overturn Biden’s victory. At a legislative hearing in Atlanta, Giuliani unveiled snippets of security footage of ballot counting at State Farm Arena that he called a “smoking gun” for voting fraud. That footage featured Freeman, Moss and other election workers.
The FBI, the GBI and the secretary of state’s office investigated and quickly debunked his claims. But Giuliani and the Trump campaign continued to accuse Freeman and Moss of fraud. In fact, they created a media campaign around the claims as they sought to pressure Georgia officials to overturn Biden’s victory.
In emotional testimony this week, Freeman and Moss said they received hundreds of threats – many of them laden with profanity and racist slurs – as the allegations spread. Freeman closed her online clothing business and fled her home on the advice of the FBI. Moss eventually left her job at the election office.
The pair later filed a defamation lawsuit against Giuliani and One America News, which spread the allegations. OAN later settled with the plaintiffs. But Giuliani sought and failed to have the lawsuit dismissed.
Credit: Pete Marovich/NYT
Credit: Pete Marovich/NYT
When Giuliani repeatedly failed to comply with court orders to turn over evidence to the plaintiffs, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell issued a default judgement finding him liable for defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress and conspiracy. This week’s trial is to determine the damages Giuliani must pay.
On Thursday, Sibley argued that much of the damages suffered by Freeman and Moss can be attributed to other parties. He said it was the conservative media outlet Gateway Pundit, for example, that first publicly identified Freeman and Moss in the video. (Freeman and Moss also have a pending defamation lawsuit against the Gateway Pundit).
Sibley said Giuliani can’t be blamed for most of the vile and threatening messages the election workers received.
“If he had actually been encouraging violence against these women, one would hope he would be in jail,” he told the jury. “But that’s not what he did.”
But Giuliani did not help himself this week. On the trial’s first day he told reporters outside the courthouse that he planned to testify that the false allegations were true.
“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 said.
Giuliani ultimately chose not to testify in the trial. On Thursday, Gottlieb cited his latest comments as evidence that Giuliani is unrepentant. In fact, he said Giuliani has made defamatory statements about his clients 20 times in the last few months – after stipulating in court documents that the claims were false.
Gottlieb said the Gateway Pundit was merely piggybacking on Giuliani’s release of the security footage. And he dismissed Sibley’s appeals to Giuliani’s past reputation.
“This case is not about who Rudy Giuliani is or what he did in his past,” Gottlieb said. “It’s about what he did to Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss.”
Howell dismissed the jurors to begin deliberations at about 1:35 p.m. She dismissed them for the day shortly after 5 p.m. and ordered them to return at 9 a.m. Friday.
Check back for updates at ajc.com
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