Giuliani loses by default in defamation case brought by Georgia poll workers

WASHINGTON (CN) — A federal judge ruled that Rudy Giuliani forfeited his case in a defamation suit brought by two Georgia poll workers who Giuliani had falsely accused of mishandling ballots during the 2020 election in the state.

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell wrote in a scathing opinion on Wednesday that Giuliani's refusal to comply with court orders to turn over documents had made the case's discovery process a "murky mess" and ordered the former New York City mayor to disclose financial and business records and pay plaintiffs over $100,000 to reimburse their attorney fees.

The Barack Obama appointee wrote that Giuliani's previous stipulation agreeing with the factual elements of the defamation claims while asserting that his statements were protected "hold[s] more holes than Swiss cheese."

As part of Giuliani's and other members of former President Donald Trump’s legal team made false claims about ballot fraud during the 2020 election, Giuliani directly targeted two poll workers, Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, during a Georgia legislative subcommittee hearing in December 2020. 

He falsely claimed the mother and daughter had filled suitcases with illegal ballots and brought them to the State Farm Arena in Atlanta to illegally influence the election outcome. He also made racist claims that Freeman and Moss were passing USB devices “like vials of heroin or cocaine.”

The allegations circulated online, leading to an intense campaign of harassment, including racist death threats against the two Black women. Trump himself targeted the two women, naming Freeman on his social media site Truth Social. 

“There is nowhere I feel safe. Nowhere,” Freeman said before the House Jan. 6 committee last June. “Do you know how it feels to have the president of the United States target you? The president of the United States is supposed to represent every American, not to target one.” 

In addition to the $132,856 in attorneys’ fees Howell ordered Giuliani and his businesses to pay, Giuliani will have to face trial later this year or in early 2024 to determine the amount of damages he owes to Freeman and Moss.

Howell’s opinion details how despite repeated orders and opportunities from the court — and despite his 50 years of experience as an attorney — Giuliani dragged his feet in turning over documents, including financial records from two of his companies, Giuliani Communications and Giuliani Partners. Freeman and Moss had requested those records to determine whether Giuliani profited from the false claims he spread about them.

According to the opinion, the only financial records Giuliani turned over to Freeman and Moss were his 2018 federal and New York state tax returns and a stipulation of settlement from his divorce proceedings in 2019.  

Giuliani did provide a seemingly substantial number of email and communication records from devices the FBI had seized — 7,949 records — but they consisted “almost entirely [of] non-usable, nonresponsive materials,” half of which were “indecipherable blobs.” 

He had argued that the FBI’s seizure corrupted and wiped the data from his devices, in an attempt to place blame on the government, rather than take responsibility for failing to preserve such records.

After that fruitless production of material in May, Giuliani did not turn over any additional documents. 

Earlier this month, Howell warned Giuliani that his flagrant disregard of the court’s authority could lead to a default judgment against him and even a contempt of court charge, but “that caution was not heeded.”

In July, Giuliani conceded that his claims that Freeman and Moss had tried to commit election fraud were false, but he still insisted he was not liable for “damages allegedly caused by him” and that his statements were protected. Howell called the stipulation “puzzling.”

Howell set a Sept. 20, 2023, deadline for Giuliani’s businesses to turn over the records Freeman and Moss requested and to provide them $43,684 in attorneys’ fees — part of the total $132,856. 

Follow @Ryan_Knappy

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