Judge: Giuliani doubling down on election worker attacks 'could support another defamation claim'

12 December 2023

US District Judge Beryl Howell is now suggesting that former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani could be on the hook for additional legal consequences after his continued attacks on two Georgia election workers.

Politico reported Tuesday that following his latest court appearance in US District Court in Washington, DC, Giuliani drew the ire of Judge Howell after once again leveling attacks on election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss on Monday night. Howell wondered if the former New York mayor was "just playing for the cameras" following his attorney Joe Sibley's apologetic statements on his client's behalf. Sibley had tried to minimize damage to Giuliani, saying that both Freeman and Moss were "good people" who didn't deserve the threats that came their way after his client falsely accused them of forging ballots.

"Of course I don't regret it," Giuliani said of his previous unfounded accusations in which he accused Freeman and Moss of manipulating ballots in Georgia during the 2020 election. "They were engaging in changing votes."

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Judge Howell has already found Giuliani guilty of defaming Freeman and Moss, and the ongoing proceedings are merely for the jury to determine how much in financial damages the former Trump attorney should be required to pay. The 80-year-old ex-mayor's latest comments — which Giuliani said he would expand upon when he takes the stand — left even his lawyer dumbfounded, with Sibley saying he's "not sure how it’s reconcilable" when Howell asked how he would account for his client's actions.

"This has taken a bit of a toll on him. He’s almost 80 years old," Sibley said, trying to explain that Giuliani's latest attacks on Freeman and Moss were due to his advanced age. "There are health concerns for Mr. Giuliani."

Both Freeman and Moss are seeking between $15 million and $43 million in damages as a result of Giuliani's defamatory remarks. Their attorney, Michael J. Gottlieb, said that his clients were forced to move out of their homes as a result of Giuliani's "campaign of defamation and emotional terror" against them. Many of the thousands of threats against Freeman and Moss — who are Black — were racist in nature and called for them to be lynched. Sibley countered that if his client were made the pay the full amount it would be the equivalent of the death penalty, saying "it would be the end of Mr. Giuliani."

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