A judge rules Rudy Giuliani must immediately pay $148 million to two election workers
Though the defamation trial is over between former Trump campaign attorney Rudy Giuliani and two former election workers he was ordered to pay $148 million, fallout from the case is still following him.
District Judge Beryl Howell ruled Wednesday that Giuliani must immediately pay the sum an eight-person jury awarded last week. A few days before that, the women sued Giuliani again, asking the the courts to permanently ban him from speaking about them.
Giuliani accused Wandrea "Shaye" Moss and her mother, Ruby Freeman, of toying with ballots at an absentee ballot counting facility in Fulton County, Georgia, in 2020. He claimed they were scanning ballots for President Joe Biden multiple times.
Typically, those ordered to pay damages have 30 days before it is enforced. But in a motion filed Monday, the women's lawyers asked that the pause be waived for Giuliani. They argue he may be inclined to use the time to conceal his assets.
"As the Court is aware, Defendant Giuliani has already proven himself to be an unwilling and uncooperative litigant, including with respect to this Court's orders to pay attorney's fees and costs," the motion says.
Howell agreed, writing in her decision that Giuliani has ignored requests for payment "without seeking extensions of time to make reimbursement, requesting any payment schedules or making any excuse for his nonpayment by the deadlines set in court orders."
Giuliani said the settlement amount and the trial proceeding was absurd and unfair.
"It bore no resemblance to a trial in a country with the rule of law," he said on X, formerly known as Twitter. "I wasn't able to offer any evidence in my defense. We'll have more to say and look forward to the appeal."
On the same day the women filed the motion, they sued Giuliani for defamation again, in the federal district court in D.C.
The pair say despite being found guilty of defamation last Friday, Giuliani, a former New York City mayor, continues to tell lies about them.
"Defendant Giuliani's statements, coupled with his refusal to agree to refrain from continuing to make such statements, make clear that he intends to persist in his campaign of targeted defamation and harassment," complaint says. "It must stop."
Moss and Freeman say in the days following the verdict, Giuliani doubled down on his claims in interviews and press conferences, saying things such as, "Everything I said about them is true" and "I told the truth. They were engaged in changing votes."
An investigation by the Georgia secretary of state found no wrongdoing by Moss and Freeman.
During the trial, the women said they received death threats, racist voicemails and a warning from the FBI that their lives could be in danger.
"I was afraid for my life," Moss said in her testimony last week. "I literally felt that someone would attempt to hang me and there was nothing anyone could do about it."
In their latest lawsuit, the women are additionally suing Giuliani for intentional infliction of emotional distress. [Copyright 2023 NPR]
