2 Georgia election workers to seek millions from Giuliani at defamation trial
Former Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss will seek between $15.5 million and $43 million from Rudy Giuliani at a defamation trial slated to begin next month in a Washington, D.C., federal court, attorneys for the mother and daughter wrote in court documents filed Tuesday.
A federal judge has already found Giuliani liable for defamatory comments he made about the pair in the wake of the 2020 election, including unfounded claims that they fraudulently manipulated ballots on Election Day in front of cameras at State Farm Arena.
The civil trial, scheduled to begin Dec. 11, will determine the full scope of damages.
In court papers filed Tuesday, attorneys for Moss and Freeman said they expected their case to last two to three days, and they held out the possibility of calling Giuliani to the witness stand.
Judge Beryl Howell, who will oversee the trial, has already leveled harsh sanctions against the former New York mayor over his failure to comply with discovery requests, awarding Freeman and Moss north of $230,000.
According to Freeman and Moss' legal team, the range of $15.5 million to $43 million cited in court papers includes costs associated with Moss' loss of work and her "need to secure and relocate from her home," where ABC News interviewed her in 2022.
Meanwhile, a deluge of other civil and criminal lawsuits has left Giuliani, in his own attorney's words, experiencing "financial difficulties."
Among other obligations, Giuliani faces a $1.4 million lawsuit for allegedly failing to pay his former attorney, Bob Costello. A former business associate in May filed a sexual harassment claim against Giuliani, seeking damages. And in October, Hunter Biden sued Giuliani for unspecified damages, accusing him of mishandling personal data belonging to the president's son.
Giuliani has denied all claims in each of those cases.
The former mayor also faces a criminal racketeering indictment that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis returned in August against him and 18 others, including former President Donald Trump, for efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state. Giuliani has pleaded not guilty.
