Rudy Giuliani defamation trial: Georgia election worker recounts death threats against her

One of the two Georgia election workers Rudy Giuliani falsely accused of committing election fraud in his ill-fated attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election testified Tuesday that her mental health had spiraled and she was “afraid for her life” after receiving death threats.

“Every single aspect of my life has changed,” Wandrea “Shay” Moss told a Washington, D.C., jury. “Everything’s turned upside down. Everything is different.”

RUDY GIULIANI DEFAMATION SUIT: JUDGE CHASTISES FORMER MAYOR FOR CONDUCT OUTSIDE COURT

“People are messaging me,” she added, “calling, texting, online, saying that I need to die, they’re gonna kill me, they want to kill my mom, they know where we are, they know where we sleep, and we should die.”

Moss and her mother, Ruby Freeman, sued the former New York City mayor, who had also been former President Donald Trump’s lawyer, for defamation.

Jacquelyn Martin/AP

Giuliani, acting on behalf of Trump, falsely claimed that the mother-daughter duo concocted a fake story about a water main break, brought in suitcases of fraudulent ballots, and passed USB drives around to change the tallies in Fulton County, an accusation that was debunked almost immediately yet repeated by Giuliani for months.

Attorneys for Moss and Freeman also shared hateful messages their clients received on Facebook, with one person telling Moss, who is black, to “be glad its 2020 and not 1920.”

“I was afraid for my life,” Moss said. “I literally felt like someone is going to come and attempt to hang me and there’s nothing that anyone will be able to do about it.”

Giuliani sat silently at the defense table as Moss gave her tearful testimony, occasionally looking at her and writing notes, reporters in the courtroom witnessed.

Jose Luis Magana/AP

Tuesday’s testimony is part of a trial to determine how much money Giuliani will have to pay Moss and Freeman for his bogus claims.

They are asking the eight-member jury to award them $43 million in compensatory damages, though the jury, seated Monday afternoon, could add millions on top for punitive damages.

The facts of the case are not in dispute. Both sides acknowledged in court that Giuliani made false statements about Freeman and Moss. Moss and Freeman filed the defamation case not only against Giuliani but also One America News Network, a conservative television network, in 2021. The network settled, but Giuliani did not, opting to take his chances in court.

However, Giuliani’s refusal to comply with numerous court orders to turn over electronic records as part of discovery has already tested the judge’s patience. His attorney claimed Giuliani lost the data and access to it after federal investigators seized his devices this year, but the judge found the argument unconvincing and said most of the data could be found on the cloud.

Jose Luis Magana/AP

She also ruled that Giuliani’s attempts to circumvent the judicial system were so egregious that it resulted in a default judgment in favor of Moss and Freeman.

Giuliani was also in hot water with the judge after he showed little restraint with the press on Monday. He told ABC News he stood by his false statements about Moss and Freeman.

“Everything I said about them is true,” Giuliani, who is also facing disbarment, told the news network. He added that the women “were engaged in changing votes.”

Judge Beryl Howell slammed Giuliani for making “additional defamatory comments” and told one of his attorneys, Joseph Sibley, that his client’s comments “could support another defamation claim.”

Sibley tried arguing the trial had taken a toll on the 80-year-old, which the judge didn’t buy, especially after Sibley said Giuliani was still mentally sharp and could follow instructions. 

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As the judge chastised his lawyer, Giuliani reclined in his chair at the defendant’s table and shook his head a few times.

He is expected to take the stand in the coming days.