Jury awards $148 million in damages to Georgia election workers over Rudy Giuliani’s 2020 vote lies
The Hindu
Jury awards $148 million in damages to two former Georgia election workers for defamation by Rudy Giuliani over false conspiracy theories.
A jury awarded $148 million in damages on Friday to two former Georgia election workers who sued Rudy Giuliani for defamation over lies he spread about them in 2020 that upended their lives with racist threats and harassment.
The damages verdict follows emotional testimony from Wandrea “Shaye” Moss and her mother, Ruby Freeman, who tearfully described becoming the target of a false conspiracy theory pushed by Giuliani and other Republicans as they tried to keep then-President Donald Trump in power after he lost the 2020 election.
There was an audible gasp in the courtroom when the jury foreperson read aloud the $75 million award in punitive damages for the women. Ms. Moss and Ms. Freeman were each awarded another roughly $36 million in other damages.
“Money will never solve all my problems," Ms. Freeman told reporters outside Washington's federal courthouse after the verdict. "I can never move back into the house that I call home. I will always have to be careful about where I go and who I choose to share my name with. I miss my home. I miss my neighbors and I miss my name.”
Mr. Giuliani didn't appear to show any emotion as the verdict was read after about 10 hours of deliberations. Ms. Moss and Ms. Freeman hugged their attorneys after the jury left the courtroom and didn't look at Mr. Giuliani as he left with his lawyer.
The former New York City mayor vowed to appeal, telling reporters that the “absurdity of the number merely underscores the absurdity of the entire proceeding."
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