In this article, we will address the case of Rudy Giuliani and his failure to testify in the defamation trial of election workers in Georgia. His lawyer stated on Thursday that the former mayor suggested to journalists that he could bolster his defamatory statements when he testifies – which could land him in additional legal trouble if he does indeed testify.
Main Facts
Giuliani is on trial for defaming election workers Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, whom the mayor accused of rigging the vote count in favor of President Joe Biden. The civil lawsuit against him has already been adjudicated, holding him liable for defamation, emotional distress, and civil conspiracy, with the amount he must pay in damages to be determined in the trial.
Recent Developments
Giuliani admitted in a pre-trial statement that he made defamatory remarks in the case, and his lawyer acknowledged in court that Giuliani’s statements were false, saying on Monday that Freeman and Moss are “good people” who have clearly been harmed by Giuliani’s remarks.
Recent Developments
However, Giuliani continued to repeat his false statements about the election workers outside of court, suggesting that he would use his testimony in the trial to bolster the false conspiracy theory, telling reporters on Monday: “When I testify, you will get the whole story, and it will be clear beyond a doubt that what I said was true.”
Recent Developments
Giuliani indicated to reporters on Wednesday evening that he was planning to testify on Thursday – although he left it somewhat open-ended – stating that he “intends” to testify but “always leaves others guessing.”
Surprising Fact
Legal experts hailed Giuliani’s decision not to testify on Thursday, as it could have exposed the attorney to further legal liability. Anthony Michael Kreis, a law professor at Georgia State University, tweeted, “Allowing Rudy Giuliani to testify would have been the dumbest thing in the world from his lawyer’s perspective.”
What to Follow Up On
Giuliani’s legal team did not mount a defense in the defamation trial, which will now shift to closing arguments before the jury determines the amount the former mayor should pay in damages. Freeman and Moss have asked Giuliani to pay between $15.5 million and $43 million in damages – a sum that could be “financially devastating” for Giuliani, who faces known financial troubles. A reputation expert testified in the trial that Giuliani’s statements about the election workers caused reputational damages of up to $47.5 million for Freeman and Moss, based on the scope of his defamatory remarks.
Main Critics
Freeman and Moss – who are mother and daughter, respectively – testified in the trial about how Giuliani’s false statements about the election workers destroyed their lives, weeping on the stand as they recounted how the smear campaign against them led to threats and destroyed their reputations. Freeman stated in her testimony, “My life is ruined, it is really ruined because of one person who put my name out there for millions of followers on Twitter,” while Moss said she is “more scared than to find my sons discover that I or my mom are hanging outside our home on a tree, or to get the news at school that my mom has been killed.”
Background
The election workers filed a lawsuit against Giuliani in December 2021, accusing him of “organizing a sustained smear campaign” against them that made them “targets of hate and threats and harassment” by promoting a false far-right conspiracy theory linking election workers to fraud. The conspiracy theory claimed that Freeman and Moss were seen on camera passing a USB drive to one another – which they claimed was actually a ginger mint – along with other acts of vote tampering. An investigation by the Georgia Secretary of State’s office found these claims to be “false and unsupported by evidence.” Giuliani was repeatedly warned by the court in the lead-up to the trial for failing to provide evidence in the case, leading to a pre-trial ruling that found him liable for defamation. He was also ordered to pay over $130,000 in attorney fees. Although Giuliani admitted to making defamatory statements prior to the trial, his attorney rejected the allegations against him, with spokesperson Ted Goodman telling Forbes in July that the case is “part of a larger effort to smear and silence Mayor Giuliani because he dared to ask questions and challenge the accepted narrative.” Giuliani refused to acknowledge the defamation as a means to preserve his right to appeal against the judgment against him – although Howell stated that the argument on that point while admitting he made defamatory statements is a legal strategy with “more holes than Swiss cheese.”
Reading
Future
Giuliani’s legal team did not present any defense in the defamation trial, which will now move to closing arguments before the jury decides the amount the former mayor must pay in damages. Freeman and Moss have asked Giuliani to pay between $15.5 million and $43 million in damages – an amount that could be “devastating” for Giuliani, who is facing well-known financial problems. A reputation expert testified during the trial that Giuliani’s statements about the election workers caused reputational damages amounting to $47.5 million for Freeman and Moss, based on the scope of his defamatory statements.
Main Critics
Freeman and Moss – who are mother and daughter respectively – testified during the trial about how Giuliani’s false statements about the election workers destroyed their lives, breaking down on the stand as they recounted how the smear campaign against them led to threats and damage to their reputations. Freeman said in her testimony: “My life is ruined, it’s really ruined because of one person who put my name out to millions of Twitter followers,” while Moss said she is “more scared that my sons will find me or my mother hanging outside our home on a tree, or that they’ll get the news at school that their mom has been killed.”
Main Background
The election workers sued Giuliani in December 2021, accusing him of “orchestrating an ongoing smear campaign” against them that made them “targets of hatred, threats, and harassment” by promoting the false far-right conspiracy theory linking election workers to fraud. The conspiracy theory claimed that Freeman and Moss appeared on camera passing a USB drive to each other – which they claimed was actually a ginger mint – along with other actions to falsify vote counts. An investigation by the Georgia Secretary of State’s office found these allegations to be “false and unsupported by evidence.” Giuliani was repeatedly warned by the court in the lead-up to the trial for failing to produce evidence in the case, resulting in a pre-trial ruling that declared him liable for defamation. He was also ordered to pay over $130,000 in attorney fees. Although Giuliani acknowledged making defamatory statements before the trial, the attorney denied the charges against him, with spokesperson Ted Goodman telling Forbes in July that the case is “part of a larger effort to smear and silence Mayor Giuliani because he dared to ask questions and challenge the accepted narrative.” Giuliani has refused to admit to defamation as a means of preserving his right to appeal the ruling against him – although Howell stated that the argument on this point while admitting to making defamatory statements is a legal strategy with “more holes than Swiss cheese.”
Future Reading
Giuliani’s legal team did not present any defense in the defamation trial, which will now move to closing arguments before the jury decides the amount the former mayor must pay in damages. Freeman and Moss have asked Giuliani to pay between $15.5 million and $43 million in damages – an amount that could be “devastating” for Giuliani, who is facing well-known financial problems. A reputation expert testified during the trial that Giuliani’s statements about the election workers caused reputational damages amounting to $47.5 million for Freeman and Moss, based on the scope of his defamatory statements.
Main Critics
Freeman and Moss – who are mother and daughter respectively – testified during the trial about how Giuliani’s false statements about the election workers destroyed their lives, breaking down on the stand as they recounted how the smear campaign against them led to threats and damage to their reputations. Freeman said in her testimony: “My life is ruined, it’s really ruined because of one person who put my name out to millions of Twitter followers,” while Moss said she is “more scared that my sons will find me or my mother hanging outside our home on a tree, or that they’ll get the news at school that their mom has been killed.”
Background
Home
Election workers filed a lawsuit against Giuliani in December 2021, accusing him of “organizing a sustained smear campaign” against them that made them “targets of hate, threat, and harassment” by pushing the false conspiracy theory from the far-right linking election workers to fraud. The conspiracy theory claimed that Freeman and Moss were seen on camera passing a USB drive to each other – which they claimed was actually a ginger mint – along with other acts of vote tampering. An investigation by the Georgia Secretary of State’s office found that these allegations were “false and unsupported by evidence.” Giuliani was repeatedly warned by the court in the lead-up to trial for failing to produce evidence in the case, leading to a pre-trial ruling that found him liable for defamation. He was also ordered to pay over $130,000 in legal fees. Although Giuliani acknowledged making defamatory statements before the trial, his attorney denied the allegations against him, with spokesman Ted Goodman telling Forbes in July that the case was “part of a larger effort to smear and silence Mayor Giuliani because he dared to ask questions and challenge the accepted narrative.” Giuliani refused to admit to committing defamation as a means of preserving his right to appeal the judgment against him – although Howell noted that the argument on this point while admitting he made defamatory statements was a legal strategy with “more holes than Swiss cheese.”
Future Reading
Giuliani’s legal team did not present any defense in the defamation trial, which will now move to closing arguments before the jury determines how much the former mayor should pay in damages. Freeman and Moss have requested that Giuliani pay between $15.5 million and $43 million in damages – an amount that could be a “death penalty” for Giuliani, who is facing known financial issues. A reputation expert testified at the trial that Giuliani’s statements about the election workers caused reputational damages reaching $47.5 million for Freeman and Moss, based on the scope of his defamatory statements.
Key Critics
Freeman and Moss – who are mother and daughter respectively – testified at trial about how Giuliani’s false statements about election workers destroyed their lives, as they cried on the stand recounting how the smear campaign against them led to threats and damage to their reputations. Freeman said in her testimony, “My life is shattered, it is really shattered because one person put my name out to millions of Twitter followers,” while Moss said she is “more afraid that my sons will find me or my mom hung outside our home on a tree, or that they will get the news at school that their mom has been killed.”
Main Background
Election workers filed a lawsuit against Giuliani in December 2021, accusing him of “organizing a sustained smear campaign” against them that made them “targets of hate, threat, and harassment” by pushing the false conspiracy theory from the far-right linking election workers to fraud. The conspiracy theory claimed that Freeman and Moss were seen on camera passing a USB drive to each other – which they claimed was actually a ginger mint – along with other acts of vote tampering. An investigation by the Georgia Secretary of State’s office found that these allegations were “false and unsupported by evidence.” Giuliani was repeatedly warned by the court in the lead-up to trial for failing to produce evidence in the case, leading to a pre-trial ruling that found him liable for defamation. He was also ordered to pay over $130,000 in legal fees. Although Giuliani acknowledged making defamatory statements before the trial, his attorney denied the allegations against him, with spokesman Ted Goodman telling Forbes in July that the case was “part of a larger effort to smear and silence Mayor Giuliani because he dared to ask questions and challenge the accepted narrative.” Giuliani refused to admit to committing defamation as a means of preserving his right to appeal the judgment against him – although Howell noted that the argument on this point while admitting he made defamatory statements was a legal strategy with “more holes than Swiss cheese.”
Reading
Future
Giuliani’s legal team did not present any defense in the defamation trial, which will now proceed to closing arguments before the jury determines the amount the former mayor must pay in damages. Freeman and Moss have asked Giuliani to pay between $15.5 million and $43 million in damages – an amount that could be a “death penalty” for Giuliani, who is known to be facing financial troubles. A reputation expert testified in the trial that Giuliani’s statements about the election workers caused reputational damages as high as $47.5 million for Freeman and Moss, based on the scope of his defamatory statements.
Main Critics
Freeman and Moss – the mother and daughter duo, respectively – testified in the trial about how Giuliani’s false statements about the election workers destroyed their lives, as they cried on the stand recounting how the smear campaign against them led to threats and destroyed their reputations. Freeman said in her testimony: “My life is ruined, it is really ruined because one person put my name out to millions of followers on Twitter,” while Moss said she is “more afraid that my kids will find me or my mom hanging outside our house on a tree, or that they will get the news at school that their mom has been killed.”
Main Background
Election workers filed a lawsuit against Giuliani in December 2021, accusing him of “orchestrating a continuous smear campaign” against them that made them “targets of hate, threats, and harassment” by promoting a false far-right conspiracy theory linking election workers to fraud. The conspiracy theory claimed that Freeman and Moss appeared on camera passing a USB drive to each other – which they claimed was actually a ginger mint – along with other actions to tamper with the vote count. An investigation by the Georgia Secretary of State’s office found that these allegations were “false and unsupported by evidence.” Giuliani was repeatedly warned by the court in the lead-up to the trial for failing to provide
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2023/12/14/giuliani-wont-testify-at-defamation-trial-after-suggesting-he-could-defame-election-workers-more-from-the-stand/
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