Search Articles
WASHINGTON (CN) — Two former Georgia poll workers asked a federal judge on Wednesday to hold Rudy Giuliani in contempt for continuing to peddle baseless claims that already led to a $148 million defamation judgment against him.
A jury awarded Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss the sum following a four-day trial in December 2023, where the mother and daughter described how Giuliani upended their lives and sparked a campaign of death threats against them.
The pair asked U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell to hold Giuliani in contempt for violating a permanent injunction against repeating the false claims, specifically on recent episodes of his nightly livestreams.
“These statements repeat the exact same lies for which Giuliani has already been held liable, and which he agreed to be bound by court order to stop repeating,” Freeman and Moss argued in the motion. “The court should hold Giuliani in civil contempt and — following a hearing, if necessary — impose sanctions calculated to ensure Giuliani’s compliance with the consent injunction.”
The motion comes amid Giuliani’s financial troubles from his numerous legal woes, which led him to declare bankruptcy soon after the judgment in Washington.
In the Southern District of New York, Freeman and Moss asked U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman to grant them control of Giuliani’s assets through receivership to fulfill the $148 million defamation judgment.
The seizure request included all of Giuliani’s assets, including his New York City apartment estimated to be worth more than $5 million. Also included were various pieces of memorabilia such as three Yankees World Series rings, a signed Joe DiMaggio shirt and outstanding claims for $2 million in unpaid legal fees from the Republican National Committee and the Trump 2020 campaign.
Giuliani’s bankruptcy triggered an automatic stay in Washington, delaying any contempt motion until he consented to the permanent injunction in May.
On Nov. 12, six months after agreeing to stop repeating the false claims, Giuliani made several references to Freeman and Moss on his livestream program “America’s Mayor Live,” where he questioned the integrity of the defamation trial and called Howell a “blood-thirsty Jan. 6 sentencer.”
“You framed me,” Giuliani said of the women.
He asserted that security camera footage showed Freeman and Moss passing “hard drives that we maintain were used to fix the [voting] machines.” The women testified at trial they were merely passing each other candy.
During the stream, Giuliani seemed to acknowledge that his statements would run awry of the injunction.
“I’m sorry, they’re going to sue me again for saying it but what am I going to do but tell the truth,” Giuliani said.
Two days later, Giuliani again claimed the video showed Freeman and Moss “quadruple counting votes” and that there were Republican poll-watchers thrown out of the State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
“Giuliani’s Nov. 12 and 14 statements are unambiguous violations of the consent injunction, and the court should hold him in civil contempt,” Freeman and Moss argued.
Giuliani, who was a central figure in Donald Trump’s effort to overturn his 2020 electoral defeat, faces a Jan. 16 trial in New York to enforce the judgment.
He has requested the trial be delayed two days beyond Trump’s looming Jan. 20 inauguration, which Giuliani said he plans to attend.
Trump has made no indication he plans to intervene in any way in Giuliani’s legal woes and cannot use his presidential pardon in civil cases.
If Howell, a Barack Obama appointee, sides with Freeman and Moss, Giuliani could be forced to return to the E. Barrett Prettyman federal courthouse in Washington to determine a punishment after a potential evidentiary hearing.
Throughout the course of the initial defamation trial, Giuliani made several statements after each days’ proceedings that Howell warned could warrant additional defamation claims. And his continued statements led Howell to express concern that it would be difficult to enforce any order like the permanent injunction.
“Given what happened just this week, is this going to require hearings for the rest of his life and mine?” Howell asked. “I don’t think he wants to appear before me again as much as I don’t want to see him here again.”
After hearing the jury’s verdict, Giuliani told reporters outside the courthouse that he regretted the racist death threats Freeman and Moss received but did not feel as though he was responsible for them.
“I receive comments like that every day, different kinds of things … this is a terrible part of our political system,” Giuliani said.
Follow @Ryan_KnappySubscribe to our free newsletters
Our weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.