Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani must pay $150 million to two women he falsely accused of committing election fraud during the 2020 presidential election, a jury ruled after a trial that lasted a week.
Per ABC News, Giuliani leveled false allegations against election workers Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss. Giuliani, who was Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, claimed the mother and daughter committed election fraud while they were tallying the presidential ballots in Fulton County, Georgia.
The default judgment was awarded to the pair in August by U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell. This granted the jury the go-ahead to decide on the damages and penalties to be awarded to Freeman and Moss. The plaintiffs wanted to be awarded between $15.5 million and around $40 million.
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Although Freeman welcomed the ruling, she said “money will never solve all of my problems” after Giuliani leveled the aforementioned allegations against them.
“I will always have to be careful about where I go and who I will be able to share my name with,” Freeman said. “I miss my name.”
“A jury stood witness to what Rudy Giuliani did to me and my daughter … for that I am thankful,” she added. “I want people to understand this: Money will never solve all of my problems.”
Moss also said, “the flame Giuliani lit with those lies … changed every aspect of our lives.” “We hope no one ever has to fight so hard just to get your name back,” she continued. “Our greatest wish is that no one … ever experiences anything like what we went through.”
Following the ruling, Giuliani told reporters that has wasn’t granted “an opportunity to present evidence”, adding that he intends to appeal the judgement. “Obviously we will move for a new trial, we will certainly appeal,” Giuliani said.
The 79-year-old also told reporters that he did not testify because “the judge made it clear that if I made any mistake or did anything wrong, she was considering contempt.”
“I have no doubt that my comments were made and they were supportable and supportable today. I just did not have an opportunity to present the evidence that we offered,” the under fire lawyer and politician said.
The ruling also came after Giuliani reiterated his claim that Freeman and Moss “were engaged in changing votes”, ABC News reported. On Tuesday, Judge Beryl Howell called him out for making “additional defamatory comments” in the wake of that statement.
During the trial, however, Giuliani said he didn’t have money to settle his debts or respond to the case, CNN reported. His lawyer, Joseph Sibley, also said the plaintiffs are seeking “the civil equivalent of the death penalty.”
“They’re trying to end Mr. Giuliani,” Sibley said.
