Rudy Giuliani’s damages trial begins on Monday — with millions of dollars in the balance for the former New York City mayor. The Trump loyalist was already found guilty of defaming two Black Georgia election workers, Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, by spreading baseless claims of election interference.
Now, a secondary trial will determine how much he owes the pair, who he falsely claimed were passing USB drives around “like they were vials of heroin or cocaine.” The mother-daughter pair were handing each other mints.
The price of defamation isn’t cheap. Freeman and Moss are requesting between $15.5 million and $43 million in damages. That doesn’t include an additional request for “punitive damages,” which are intended to deter Giuliani from similarly defaming anyone else.
The pair faced harassment and even death threats based on the accusations levied against them by Giuliani, former President Donald Trump, and others in his orbit. During a Congressional hearing, Freeman and Moss shared what life was like after they were targeted by the Trump campaign. “A lot of threats wishing death upon me, telling me I’ll be in jail with my mother and saying things like, ‘Be glad it’s 2020 and not 1920,’ ” Moss told Congress.
It’s already not looking great for Giuliani, who missed a pre-trial hearing last week. Giuliani has already been found guilty of defamation, and he admitted that the statements were false, which means the only thing this trial will determine is how much he’ll have to pay up.
Giuliani also faces RICO charges in Georgia. He was indicted alongside 18 other co-defendants, including former President Trump, for election interference. This has clearly not been the best year for the man once known as America’s Mayor.