Disgraced New York Mayor and former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani was ordered to pay $148 million to two Georgia election workers he defamed in his false claims about the 2020 presidential election. And now he’s working to dig that hole even deeper.
Though the damages verdict only came in last week, Giuliani was found liable for defaming Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss back in August. In the months since, Giuliani has continued to attack the two women, repeating his baseless and destructive claims that they mishandled ballots in Georgia. His total lack of remorse and refusal to stop defaming the women likely played a significant role in determining the amount owed.
If a judge ordered me to pay nearly $150 million for a crime, I would make sure not to keep doing that crime, especially not in public, in front of reporters. Giuliani is just built different, I guess, and he’s been spreading the same lies that got him in trouble in the first place, including during a press conference outside the courthouse immediately after the judge’s ruling last week.
Freeman and Moss have responded to Giuliani’s ongoing attacks in the only possible way: by filing another lawsuit against him.
The lawsuit, which was filed Monday, states, “Defendant Giuliani continues to spread the very same lies for which he has already been held liable in the Freeman I action.”
“For example, on December 11, 2023, Defendant Giuliani held an impromptu press conference before a gaggle of reporters. Standing in front of the cameras, Defendant Giuliani stated that his forthcoming testimony would make: ‘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,” the suit reads, referencing the campaign of harassment that “terrorized” the two women thanks to Giuliani’s attacks, as if he wasn’t directly responsible for that.
The suit continues: “When asked whether he regretted his actions, Defendant Giuliani stated: ‘Of course I don’t regret it . . . I told the truth. They were engaged in changing votes.’ Finally, when a reporter pointed out that there was ‘no proof of that,’ Defendant Giuliani stated, ‘You’re damn right there is . . . . Stay tuned.’”
The lawsuit asks for financial restitution for legal fees and “Such other and further relief as this Court deems just and proper,” though the main focus seems to be on getting “injunctive relief,” barring Giuliani from continuing to attack them publicly. That seems like the very least they deserve.
(featured image: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
