Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani will face trial for defamation over statements he made regarding election workers in Georgia following the 2020 presidential election. The court has determined he is liable for defamation due to his failure to provide evidence in the case, and he now faces up to $43 million in damages. Meanwhile, his lawyers claim he is facing financial difficulties.
Key Facts
Election workers Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss filed a lawsuit against Giuliani in December 2021, accusing him of “orchestrating a sustained campaign of character assassination” against them, making them “targets of ridicule, threats, and harassment” by promoting a false conspiracy theory linking election workers to fraud.
Giuliani falsely claimed that the workers had been caught on camera attempting to rig the election in favor of President Joe Biden, including “secretly passing USB drives like they were heroin or cocaine pipes” (when Moss said they were passing out ginger candy), and the Georgia Department of State found these claims to be “false and unsupported by evidence” after an investigation.
Federal Judge Beryl Howell found Giuliani liable for defamation, emotional distress, and civil conspiracy, issuing a default judgment against him – meaning a ruling before the trial begins – as a sanction for his failure to provide evidence in the case.
How Much Money Does Giuliani Have?
A series of legal cases against Giuliani has led him and his attorney to claim he is experiencing significant financial problems. His lawyer in the defamation case cited Giuliani’s financial issues as a reason he could not pay the attorney fees he has already been ordered to pay. Giuliani requested to delay payments until after the case is concluded, but Howell denied that request in her August ruling, in which she found him liable for defamation. The judge stated that Giuliani’s claims that he cannot pay attorney fees were “questionable,” given his ability to pay over $320,000 to a vendor holding his electronic records – money presumably paid by Trump’s former super PAC – and he recently registered his New York City apartment valued at $6.5 million and reports indicated he traveled “on a private jet” to Georgia to surrender to authorities after he was indicted there.
What to Expect?
Jury selection is expected to begin on Monday and the trial is estimated to last approximately four days, according to pre-trial estimates. Giuliani, Freeman, and Moss are all expected to testify, with other potential witnesses including former Trump attorney Jenna Ellis and former One America News anchor Christina Bobb, although the plaintiffs will be providing prior statements they’ve already given and will not be called for live testimony.
The Big Number
More than $130,000. That is the amount Giuliani has been ordered to pay in attorney fees in the case due to his refusal to provide or preserve evidence. Howell imposed sanctions on Giuliani in June and ordered him to pay at least $89,172.50 in fees to Freeman and Moss, and also ordered his company to pay $43,684 separately, which Giuliani would be personally liable for if his company cannot pay. Subsequently, the judge ordered Giuliani to pay an unspecified amount in attorney fees in August when she found him liable for defamation.
Main Criticism
Giuliani’s spokesman, Ted Goodman, criticized the judge’s ruling that found Giuliani liable for defamation as “a living example of weaponizing the judicial system, where the punishment is the process,” calling for the ruling to be overturned in a statement to Forbes following the August ruling. Goodman criticized the case against Giuliani as “part of a larger effort to smear and silence Mayor Giuliani for daring to ask questions and challenge the accepted narrative,” claiming in July, “They can’t deny the fact that Giuliani is objectively one of the most effective prosecutors in American history who brought down the mafia, cleaned up New York City, and consoled the nation after September 11.”
Background
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Giuliani led the legal campaign strategy for Trump’s campaign after the 2020 presidential election, during which the campaign and other Trump allies filed approximately 60 unsuccessful lawsuits challenging the results. The former New York City Mayor also participated in efforts to pressure state lawmakers to contest the election results, along with other post-election activities. The defamation lawsuit filed by Freeman and Moss is part of a series of legal consequences Giuliani has faced due to his assistance to Trump in 2020: his law license has been suspended and he faces the threat of disbarment; he has been sued for defamation by the voting machine companies Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic; and he was indicted in Georgia alongside Trump and other allies for crimes related to his attempts to overturn the election in that state. The conspiracy theory surrounding Freeman and Moss is also reflected in the Georgia indictment, where some defendants were accused of harassing and threatening Freeman and attempting to coerce her into admitting to election fraud. Giuliani’s charges in Georgia do not include any accusations directly related to election workers.
Further Reading
Rudy Giuliani Liable For Defaming Georgia Election Workers, Court Rules (Forbes)
Rudy Giuliani’s Financial Troubles Are Adding Up As IRS Takes Action—Here’s What We Know (Forbes)
Rudy Giuliani Forced To Pay $89K In Attorneys Fees For 2020 Defamation Case (Forbes)
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