He may have to pay bigly.
The two Georgia election workers who won their defamation case against former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani for spreading lies about them and espousing bogus claims while serving as a Trump surrogate — are asking to be paid as much as $43 million in damages.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Beryl A. Howell entered a default judgment against Giuliani, an ex-personal attorney and public surrogate to former President Donald Trump, because either the defendant has been truant in attending hearings or failed to answer a complaint, according to a tweet posted by MSNBC's Katie Phang.
Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea "Shaye" Moss won their lawsuit against Giuliani back on Aug. 30, 2023, for defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, civil conspiracy, and punitive damage claims.
The 33-page document filed on Wednesday is saying Giuliani has "direct and indirect liability" and Freeman and Moss putting a specific amount starting at $15.5 million up to $43 million for a variety of "actionable statements" he made and for inventing what was dubbed "SUITCASE GATE" for what he alleged was rampant ballot stuffing to flip Georgia away from Trump.
Specifically, Giuliani stood accused of trying to falsely expose the mother and daughter of committing various acts of election fraud including: "illegally excluding poll watchers under false pretenses; sneaking in and hiding illegal ballots in suitcases under tables; illegally counting ballots multiple times; and passing a USB drive with the intent of changing the vote count in the voting tabulation devices."
Both Freeman and Moss say such misrepresentations "caused them to suffer and continue to suffer extensive emotional and reputational harm, including as manifested in profane and vile threats."
The document also lays out some statements attributed to the former mayor.
"MASSIVE CORRUPTION IN THE ELECTION PROCESS LED TO A VOTE TALLY THAT IS FRAUDULENT... Fraudulent Ballots... Fulton County GA video of suitcases of fraudulent ballots," reads one.
Another quote claimed to have been attributed to Giuliani names the election worker.
"Election Official Ruby Freeman is seen surreptitiously & illegally handing off hard drives ON CAMERA in the Georgia counting facility," according to the papers.
A jury will soon be tasked to determine the sum that Giuliani will be ordered to pay.
According to the default judgment, "The only issue remaining in this trial will be for a jury to determine how much Defendant Giuliani owes to Plaintiffs for the damage his conduct caused."
