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Ruby Freeman and Shay Moss, two Georgia election workers Won a nearly $150 million verdict against Rudy Giuliani for defamation on Friday, He has been sued againHe is asking a federal judge to permanently ban him from lying about them.
The lawsuit comes as Giuliani continued to make false statements about absentee ballot counters in the 2020 election.
“Defendant Giuliani continues to spread the same falsehoods for which he has already taken responsibility,” the new lawsuit states. “Defendant Giuliani’s statements make it clear that he refuses to agree to refrain from continuing to make such statements and that he intends to continue the campaign of defamation and harassment aimed at him. It must stop.”
The new lawsuit marks the latest round of fallout the former New York mayor is facing over legal work for Donald Trump after the 2020 election — and comes as Giuliani continues to be buried in debt and legal action. He is going on trial for criminal charges in Georgia, where he has pleaded not guilty in connection with his 2020 campaign work for Trump.
Attorneys for Moss and Freeman have indicated that after the verdict, Giuliani won’t stop making false claims about them.
At the end of the first day of his defamation trial last week, Giuliani told television cameras outside the courtroom that “everything I said about them is true” and that he had proof that the media “should be seen.” Giuliani presented little defense in the case and did not testify.
Moss and Freeman pointed out that Giuliani also “had no doubt” his comments to the media after the jury’s verdict on Friday were “supportive,” and that he repeated himself on Saturday in a podcast hosted by far-right figure Steve Bannon.
Their new lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction from a federal court in Washington, D.C., that would prohibit Giuliani from “repeating or publishing any and all false statements.” It has been filed that the mother and daughter were “involved in electoral fraud, illegal activity or any form of malpractice” during the 2020 election vote count.
A dozen statements by Giuliani about the women, accusing them of tampering with the ballots while counting them, were found to be false and defamatory.
United States District Court for the District of Columbia
Verdict Form in Rudy Giuliani Federal Defamation Trial, December 15, 2023.
In a separate court filing on Monday, attorneys for both sides agreed to final numbers and terms, which the jury will now weigh.
Giuliani agreed that the court’s final ruling would make it clear that he would have to pay the women $146 million plus more than $237,000 in attorneys’ fees. The jury’s verdict was slightly reduced because Moss and Freeman had previously settled another part of their lawsuit against One America News Network and others.
In his final ruling, the court said Giuliani said he made more than a dozen defamatory statements about Moss and Freeman and that his conduct was willful, malicious, wanton and intentional.
By including those notices in the court’s ruling, it would be more difficult for Giuliani to avoid paying Moss and Freeman by filing for bankruptcy.
DC District Court Judge Beryl Howell signed the terms of the final judgment Monday evening.
The clock is ticking on when the women will start collecting what Giuliani is owed for their emotional distress, reputational damage and punishment.
Attorneys for Moss and Freeman told the court that they wanted to try to collect the money and get his assets sooner rather than wait for the automatic 30-day delay in such cases. Giuliani has said he wants to keep the 30-day delay, but Howell has yet to weigh in on that time.
“We’re going to work very hard to make sure they see every bit of money Mr. Giuliani has to pay and satisfy this judgment,” John Langford, one of Moss and Freeman’s lawyers, told CNN’s Erin Burnett. Judgment.
“Entering a final judgment is the document you have to go to Mr. Giuliani’s assets, New York, Florida and … other jurisdictions that attach the judgment to his assets,” Langford added.
Although Giuliani has repeatedly said he’s broke, Moss and Freeman’s legal team is already working on ways to collect what he’s owed.
In another court filing following the jury verdict, attorneys for the women identified Giuliani as having “substantial assets,” including bank accounts in New York and Florida, a condo in South Florida and a New York City co-op.
During a hearing last week, Giuliani admitted to a deal to host a show on a streaming channel affiliated with the right-wing network Newsmax.
Moss and Freeman’s team said in court Monday that they are already worried that Giuliani might try to save some of his fortune, so they are trying to claim some of his assets as soon as this week.
“Defendant Giuliani has already proven himself to be an unwilling and uncooperative litigant, including by this court’s orders to pay attorney fees and costs,” attorneys for Moss and Freeman told Howell on Monday. “Defendant Giuliani will use any time to divide or disperse available assets to satisfy even a small portion of plaintiffs’ judgment.”
Moss and Freeman’s attorneys have been fighting for months to get a full picture of the former New York City mayor’s finances. Giuliani’s tax returns, which are a few years old, have not been made public.
However, Giuliani has publicly stated that he is broke. That prompted him earlier in the case to avoid fighting them in court, leading to a trial this month.
According to Monday’s court action, Giuliani has yet to repay Moss and Freeman the money they previously won for their attorneys’ fees.
A law firm that represented Giuliani in other proceedings A case has been filed against him Almost $1.4 million in unpaid legal bills. That’s on top of other debts Giuliani has publicly disclosed, such as tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid phone bills and litigation costs, some of which Trump helped him with.
“If he doesn’t file for bankruptcy, he owes them until he pays it,” Jennifer Hardy, a bankruptcy partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher, the law firm representing Moss and Freeman, told CNN. Monday. Hardy and others in the organization have been trying to get money from another right-wing figure, Alex Jones, for the families of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting. who slandered them It has since filed for bankruptcy.
The Jones case shows that following major defamation verdicts, defendants “have to come up with money, make a deal or have a debt hanging around your neck for the rest of your life,” said Stuart Lombardi, another Wilkie Farr partner involved in the Jones case, on Monday.
This story has been updated with additional updates.
