Dem
51
GOP
49
After the 2020 election, Rudy Giuliani claimed that election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss stuffed the ballot box, causing Donald Trump to lose Georgia. They testified before the Jan. 6 commission that Giuliani's remarks led to death threats and more, so they had to quit their jobs and go into hiding. Effectively Giuliani's remarks ruined their lives, so they sued him for defamation.
On Tuesday, Giuliani admitted that what he said about the two women was false and met the factual elements of liability. He even said that his attacks were intended to inflict emotional distress on the two women, both of whom are Black. An aide to Giuliani said that the former mayor wants to skip the fact finding portion of the suit and move onto the legal issues.
The lawyers for Freeman and Moss said: "Giuliani's stipulation concedes what we have always known to be true—Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss honorably performed their civic duties in the 2020 presidential election in full compliance with the law and the allegations of election fraud he and former-President Trump made against them have been false since day one."
Giulani's admission is intended to end the discovery phase of the trial, in which the lawyers for Freeman and Moss have asked for many documents that Giuliani has refused to produce. His refusal has so angered U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell that she has threatened severe sanctions on Giuliani for noncompliance. She has even threatened him with ending the case right now and ruling for the plaintiffs. He and his lawyers hope that now that the facts are undisputed, the legal issues will come into play. Specifically, Giuliani is claiming that he had a constitutional right to lie about what the women did due to the First Amendment's freedom of speech provision, so what he did, while annoying to the women, does not amount to defamation.
Legal experts have characterized Giuliani's statement as "desperate" and "trying to cut his losses." Howell, an Obama appointee, is 66 and got her law degree from Columbia University Law School 40 years ago. She has worked in private practice, as an assistant U.S. attorney, as general counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee, and for the past 13 years as a federal judge. She has seen it all and is not going to suddenly let Giuliani off the hook so easily. He's still in deep doodoo and this new statement might even make it worse. In football, this is called a "Hail Mary play." (V)