Rudy Giuliani defamation trial: Damages to Georgia elections workers could ‘end’ ex-mayor

Opening statements began Monday afternoon in a trial that will determine how much money former New York mayor and onetime Donald Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani will have to pay two Georgia election workers whom he repeatedly, without merit, claimed committed election fraud in 2020.

Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea Moss sued Giuliani over lies he told that upended their lives, leading to “threats, harassment, and harm.” Giuliani falsely claimed they had engaged in nefarious activity to give President Joe Biden the edge in Georgia over the former president.

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Following Giuliani’s comments, the mother and daughter received death threats from people who claimed they deserved to be hanged from trees and hanged at the United States Capitol close enough for the public to “hear their necks snap,” lawyer Von DuBose told jurors.

DuBose, who is black, like Freeman and Moss, said the court would hear how “Mr. Giuliani and his co-conspirators stole the lives of Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss by destroying their names.”

In the days, weeks, and months following the 2020 presidential election, which saw Trump lose a second term, Giuliani claimed the mother-daughter duo “engaged in surreptitious illegal activity” and said they were caught on camera “quite obviously surreptitiously passing around USB ports as if they’re vials of heroin or cocaine.” The USB port Giuliani spoke about turned out to be a ginger mint.

The claims about Freeman and Moss were quickly debunked by Georgia election officials but that did not stop Giuliani, who has maintained he has every right to question what he believed was election fraud. He conceded in July that he made public comments falsely claiming Freeman and Moss had committed fraud while counting ballots at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta but claimed his statements were protected under his First Amendment rights.

District Judge Beryl Howell has already found Giuliani liable for defamation and civil conspiracy for his false statements about the two Georgia election workers.

His lawyer, Joseph A. Sibley IV, said in his opening statement that there was “no question these claimants were harmed” and that “they didn’t deserve what happened to them,” but added, “What happened to them happened because of a controversy involving a lot of people, not just Rudy Giuliani.”

He added that Giuliani did not make any of the threatening phone calls or messages, and said that the amount of damages being sought by Freeman and Moss “really should fit the crime.”

“What the plaintiffs’ counsel are asking for here is the civil equivalent of the death penalty,” he said during his opening remarks. “What they are asking for will be the end of Mr. Giuliani. I want you to come back with an award that’s fair, appropriate, and just.”

The eight-person jury was seated Monday afternoon. Under federal law, a civil case requires a unanimous verdict from at least six jurors. The two others were seated as a precaution, to allow for possible illness and other issues that may arise.

Giuliani, who was once celebrated as “America’s mayor” for his leadership skills in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, has turned into a punchline for late-night comics after becoming one of the most vocal promoters of Trump’s election lies.

The former mayor arrived Monday in the courtroom about 20 minutes after jury selection had been scheduled to start. His attorney blamed the delay on the security line to get into the courthouse.

Potential jurors were asked whether they believed Biden’s election was illegitimate and whether they’ve ever used a slogan associated with QAnon conspiracy theorists. Eight jurors were selected shortly after noon.

Freeman and Moss, who are seeking $15.5 million to $43 million, are expected to testify at the trial.

Their lawyer is asking “the jury to award compensatory damages for the severe emotional distress caused by Defendant Giuliani and his co-conspirators between 2020 through the present in an amount to be determined by the jury, including based on Plaintiffs’ mental pain and suffering, fear, inconvenience, nervousness, indignity, insult, humiliation, or embarrassment that Plaintiffs suffered directly because of Defendant Giuliani and his co-conspirators’ conduct,” according to court documents.

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Last week, Giuliani missed a pretrial hearing. Sibley took the brunt of the blame, telling Howell that he misread the order. Howell said the move “sets the tone, doesn’t it, for the whole case?”

Lawyers have previously said they’ll need about a week to present their evidence. However, the court warned potential jurors on Monday that the proceedings may spread into next week.