Rudy Giuliani ordered to pay $148 million to 2 Georgia election employees over election fraud defamation

Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City, was ordered by a federal jury to pay two Georgia election workers $148 million over a defamation lawsuit related to voter fraud claims.

The jury of eight residents of Washington, D.C., deliberated for about ten hours before reaching a decision Friday afternoon.

Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea ArShaye "Shaye" Moss sued Giuliani, who had represented former President Donald Trump as his personal attorney, and accused them of participating in a fake balloting scheme during the 2020 presidential election in Fulton County.

The jury awarded $16 million to Freeman for compensatory damages for defamation and awarded $17 million to Moss for compensatory damages for defamation. In addition, they awarded $20 million to each for emotional distress and $75 million in punitive damages for both.

Giuliani had previously said he would take the stand in order to testify in his defense, but he changed his mind and never testified.

“We feel like these women have been through enough,” said Giuliani's attorney on Thursday.

Mike Gottlieb, the attorney for Moss and Freeman, argued in his closing statement that Giuliani had dehumanized the workers in order to push his narrative about the election.

“He thought they were ordinary and expendable. He didn’t see them as human beings,” said Gottlieb. “It’s dangerous for them to be Ruby Freeman or Shaye Moss because of Giuliani and his co-conspirators."

The women testified about the numerous threats and insults they had received on social media because of the accusations made against them by Giuliani.

Giuliani later equated the damages they were seeking to “the civil equivalent of the death penalty" for the former mayor.

“They’re trying to end Mr. Giuliani,” he said to the jury.

Here's a news report about the decision:

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