Rudy Giuliani Ordered To Pay $148 Million To Defamed Election Workers

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was ordered to pay more than $148 million to a mother-daughter pair of Georgia election workers whom he accused of manipulating ballots in the 2020 election.

Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Shaye Moss, sued Giuliani for defamation, after the Trump ally suggested they had engaged in election fraud in order to tip the election to Joe Biden in the critical swing state.

The two women testified that they were flooded with expletive-laden phone calls and messages, as well as threats and racist attacks. Freeman claimed that people showed up at her home, while Moss said that others tried to execute a citizen's arrest at her grandmother's house. They also called Ms. Moss's 14-year-old son's cellphone.

"This all started with one tweet," Freeman told the jury, referring to a Giuliani tweet which read, "WATCH: Video footage from Georgia shows suitcases filled with ballots pulled from under a table AFTER supervisors told poll workers to leave room and 4 people stayed behind to keep counting votes."

Lawyers for the two women asked the jury to send a message when deciding the amount Giuliani should pay.

"Send it to Mr. Giuliani," attorney Michael J. Gottlieb, said in his closing argument on Thursday. "Send it to any other powerful figure with a platform and an audience who is considering whether they will take the chance to seek profit and fame by assassinating the moral character of ordinary people."

Giuliani's lawyer, Joseph Sibley VI, told the court that an award of the scale being sought by the plaintiffs would be the civil equivalent to the death penalty, as Giuliani has been struggling financially amid an indictment in Georgia on racketeering charges.