Judge Deals Rudy Giuliani Blow Amid $146 Million Battle

A Washington, D.C., judge rejected Rudy Giuliani's request to overturn the nearly $146 million defamation penalties that he owes to two former Georgia election workers over his claims following the 2020 presidential election.

Giuliani, who after his time as mayor served as a personal lawyer to former President Donald Trump, was ordered by a jury in December to pay Ruby Freeman and Wandrea "Shaye" Moss $148 million for making false claims that the mother and daughter duo committed election fraud while counting ballots in Fulton County during the 2020 election. The total penalty amount was later lowered to $145,969,000 after a final judgment in December.

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell upheld the verdict against Giuliani on Monday, writing in a 48-page decision that his motion to reverse the ruling "falls well short of persuading that 'the evidence and all reasonable inferences that can be drawn therefrom are so one-sided that reasonable men and women could not have reached a verdict in [plaintiffs'] favor.'"

In an email to Newsweek Monday afternoon, Giuliani's lead attorney, Joseph Sibley, said that the defense team was "not at all surprised the trial court did not reverse its own prior rulings and we will now proceed with an appeal to the D.C. Circuit where we look forward to an appellate panel reviewing the case."

Sibley also noted that Giuliani's post-trial motion to reverse the judgement was "required" in order to "preserve certain issues for appeal."

Freeman and Moss claimed in their lawsuit against Giuliani that his false statements regarding Georgia's election integrity subjected them and their family to threats and attacks in the aftermath of 2020, where Trump lost to President Joe Biden. Both Trump and Giuliani are among the over a dozen co-defendants listed in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' racketeering charges brought against the former president last August as well, which accuses the defendants of attempting to overturn Biden's win in Georgia in 2020.

Giuliani responded to his massive verdict in December by filing for bankruptcy six days after the ruling in December. His filing stopped Freeman and Moss from collecting on the $146 million for now, although the plaintiffs argued in a filing in February to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane that Giuliani "cannot hide behind bankruptcy to escape those consequences and accountability for the devastating impact his actions caused." U.S. courts have previously ruled that defamation verdicts cannot be erased in bankruptcy.

The former Trump attorney also told reporters as he left the courthouse following December's verdict that he doesn't "regret a damn thing," adding, "The absurdity of the number merely underscores the absurdity of the entire proceeding, where I've not been allowed to offer one single piece of evidence in defense."

"I am quite confident when this case gets before a fair tribunal, it will be reversed so quickly it will make your head spin," he added.

At the time, Freeman said that the verdict day was "a good day."

"A jury stood witness to what Rudy Giuliani did to me and my daughter, and held him accountable," she added. "We still have work to do. Rudy Giuliani was not the only one who spread lies about us. And others must be held accountable, too."

Update 04/15/24, 5:51 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional comment from Joseph Sibley.