WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge will consider Friday whether Rudy Giuliani should be held in contempt of court for continuing to spread lies about two Georgia election officials after they received a $148 million defamation verdict -dollars obtained against him.
Plaintiffs’ lawyers have asked U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in Washington, D.C., to impose civil sanctions against Giuliani, the former New York City mayor who served as Donald Trump’s lawyer. They say Giuliani continued to falsely accuse Wandrea “Shaye” Moss and her mother Ruby Freeman of committing voter fraud in connection with the 2020 election.
Moss and Freeman sued Giuliani, saying he upended their lives with racist threats and harassment. A jury sided with the Black mother and daughter in December 2023 and awarded them $75 million in punitive damages and about $73 million in other damages.
“Mr. Giuliani began lying about Plaintiffs in December 2020 and refused to stop after being repeatedly told that his election fraud conspiracy theory about Plaintiffs was baseless, malicious and dangerous,” the plaintiffs’ attorneys wrote.
Giuliani’s lawyers argued that plaintiffs had not presented “clear and convincing” evidence that he violated a court order in the defamation case in comments he made on podcasts in November about alleged vote-counting irregularities in Georgia had.
“Giuliani acted in good faith and the belief that his statements did not violate the judgment and that he should not be subject to contempt sanctions,” his lawyers wrote.
If Howell convicts Giuliani, a Republican, of contempt of court, she would be the second federal judge to do so this week. On Monday, Judge Lewis Liman in New York found Giuliani in contempt of court over allegations he failed to provide evidence that would facilitate the judge decide whether to own a condo in Palm Beach, Florida , could keep.
Giuliani, who testified Jan. 3 in the Liman courtroom in Manhattan, said he didn’t hand over everything because he believed the motions were too broad, unreasonable or even a “trap” set by plaintiffs’ lawyers be.
Giuliani, 80, said in a court filing that he would attend Friday’s hearing before Howell despite having travel-related concerns about his health and safety. He said he received death threats and was told to be careful when traveling.
“I was hoping that the court would understand and take into account my needs. However, it appears that I was mistaken,” he said in the filing.
On the witness stand, Moss and Freeman described fearing for their lives after becoming the target of a false conspiracy theory spread by Giuliani and other Republicans as they sought to keep Trump in power after he won the 2020 election against the Democrat Joe Biden lost. Moss told jurors she tried to change her appearance, rarely left her home and suffered from panic attacks.
“Money will never solve all my problems,” Freeman told reporters after the jury’s verdict. “I can never move back into the house I call home. I will always have to be careful where I go and who I share my name with. I miss my home. I miss my neighbors and I miss my name.”
