Giuliani liable for defaming Georgia election workers, judge rules
By Alan Feuer
WASHINGTON – A federal judge ruled on Wednesday (30) that Rudy Giuliani was liable for defaming two Georgia election workers by repeatedly declaring that they had mishandled ballots while counting votes in Atlanta during the 2020 election.
The ruling by the judge, Beryl A. Howell in US District Court in Washington, means that the defamation case against Giuliani, a central figure in former President Donald Trump’s efforts to remain in power after his election loss, can proceed to trial on the narrow question of how much, if any, damages he will have to pay the plaintiffs in the case.
A lawyer for Giuliani declined to comment.
Howell’s decision came a little more than a month after Giuliani conceded in two stipulations in the case that he had made false statements when he accused the election workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, of manipulating ballots while working at the State Farm Arena for the Fulton County Board of Elections.
Giuliani later sought to explain that his stipulations were solely meant to get past a dispute with Freeman and Moss about discovery evidence in the case and move toward dismissing the allegations outright. But Howell, complaining that Giuliani’s stipulations “hold more holes than Swiss cheese,” took the proactive step of declaring him liable for “defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, civil conspiracy and punitive damage claims”.
The lawsuit filed by Freeman and Moss in December 2021 was among the first to be brought by individual election workers who found themselves dragged into the alternate universe of right-wing politicians and media figures who claimed that Trump had won the election. The two women had originally sued other defendants, including the One America News Network and some of its top officials, but ultimately settled the case against everyone except Giuliani.
Last year, Freeman and Moss appeared as witnesses at a public hearing of the House select committee investigating Jan. 6 and told the story of what happened after Giuliani amplified the false claims that they had pulled thousands of fraudulent ballots from a suitcase in their vote-counting station and illegally fed them through voting machines.
Although Fulton County and Georgia officials immediately debunked the accusations, Giuliani kept promoting them, ultimately comparing the women — both of whom are Black — to drug dealers and calling during a hearing with Georgia state legislators for their homes to be searched.
Trump invoked Freeman’s name 18 times during a phone call with Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state, on Jan. 2, 2021. In the call, Trump asked Raffensperger to help him “find” 11,800 votes — enough to swing the results in Georgia from the winner, Joe Biden.
“I’ve lost my name, and I’ve lost my reputation,” Freeman testified to the House panel, adding as her voice rose with emotion, “Do you know how it feels to have the president of the United States target you?”
-New York Times
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