Rudy Giuliani’s defamation damages trial started Monday with opening statements, as a jury considers how much the former Donald Trump attorney must pay two Georgia election workers. The trial, expected to last four days, marks the last step in a monthslong legal battle between Giuliani and former Georgia election workers Wandrea “Shaye” Moss and Ruby Freeman. Moss and Freeman accused Giuliani of smearing them after the 2020 election when he served as the head of Trump’s legal team.
The trial, where Giuliani’s efforts factor into criminal allegations Trump faces, is putting the actions of Trump’s lawyers and campaign on public display before a Washington, DC jury. Giuliani has already been found liable for defamation and owes Freeman and Moss over $230,000 after failing to respond to parts of their lawsuit.
Freeman and Moss are seeking tens of millions of dollars, claiming that they have suffered emotional and reputational harm as well as having their safety put in danger after Giuliani singled them out when he made false claims of ballot tampering in Georgia. They are asking the jury to consider awarding them between $15.5 million and $43 million for the reputational harm they’ve suffered alone from a series of specific statements Giuliani and others, including Trump and his campaign, made about them. They are also seeking payment for their emotional distress, attorneys’ fees and for the jury to fine Giuliani as “punishment for his outrageous conduct and to deter him and others” in the future.
During opening statements, an attorney for Freeman and Moss leaned on Giuliani’s own words and social media posts as he argued to the jury that the former Trump attorney had a devastating impact on their lives. The attorney also showed videos and played audio clips in which Giuliani repeated false claims that the two election workers stuffed ballots and were caught on video allegedly passing a USB drive as part of a vote-stealing scheme. None of those claims were true.
Giuliani’s false allegations led to a deluge of threats and harassment on social media, through voicemails and in person against Moss and Freeman. The women received death threats and were called racial slurs, which was shown in haunting voicemails played for the jury.
In his own opening statement, Giuliani’s attorney acknowledged that some harm was done to Freeman and Moss but argued that the amount sought by the plaintiffs far exceeded what Giuliani should have to pay them as a result of his conduct. Giuliani is expected to testify in his own defense, and his lawyer didn’t know during a hearing last week if Giuliani would invoke his Fifth Amendment rights on the stand.
While Giuliani conceded in July that he did make defamatory statements about Moss and Freeman, he attempted to argue that his statements did not cause any damage to the two women. However, he lost the lawsuit in August after Judge Beryl Howell of the US District Court in Washington, DC, determined that he failed to provide information sought in subpoenas.
CNN has reported that Giuliani is struggling with the costs of the numerous legal challenges he faces related to his work for Trump following the 2020 election. In a court filing in August, Giuliani said he’s effectively out of cash and has listed his 3-bedroom Manhattan apartment for $6.5 million to ease some of the financial strain.
The trial is expected to continue and will likely have major implications for both Giuliani and the two Georgia election workers.