The former lawyer of Donald Trump, Rudolf Giulianiwas ordered to pay 148 million dollars Damages in the case brought by two women who were falsely accused of rigging the vote Georgia during the 2020 elections. The federal court in Washington recognized that Giuliani owes two people, Ruby Freeman and Wandrea ArShaye Moss, former vote counting employees, $73 million to compensate for the reputational damage and emotional shock caused by his allegations had. In addition, the judge assessed an additional penalty of $75 million for the misconduct. The two women's lawyers had demanded compensation of $24 million each.
Meanwhile, the trial of Trump and the others involved remains on hold, although Fulton prosecutor Fani Willis is waging a real fight from the bar to reject the idea of a stay of the trial simply because Trump is running for president. In fact, Willis asks for a date for the month Augustwhich would result in the presidential candidate defending himself in court in the same weeks or even days before the general election.
The testimony of the two women: How Giuliani built a case from nothing
Both women told the court what they had to endure as a result False accusations. Moss said she received thousands of threatening messages and threats, so much so that she was unable to leave the house and suffered from panic attacks. The same fate befell Freeman, his mother, whose target was racist insults after Giuliani's allegations in 2020 contributed to the Georgia case and the resulting conspiracy theory. The women said they were approached on the same election night because they believed they would receive compliments on their work. Only later did they realize they were at the center of false accusations on the most complex election night of 2020.
After the first allegations, they tried to restore some anonymity by changing their appearance, but were intercepted by phone because of a smartphone that Moss' son used for online lessons. From then on, unrest operations began that became real threats. In fact, the two women said they often feared for their lives or of becoming victims of a flimsy “private citizen arrest,” a legal situation common in the United States that often paves the way for invoking the law on their own hands .
Giuliani disagrees: “a death sentence”
But Giuliani doesn't agree, through his lawyer Joseph Sibley, claims that compensating the two women is equivalent to serving a “death penalty.” He admitted that the two women had been stalked, but reiterated that the person responsible was not his client. Giuliani, wrestling with Economic problems According to his defense attorney, he will be destroyed for some time by this compensation: “If you give them what they ask for, that will be the end of Mr. Giuliani,” he thundered.
Last February, a grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia, ordered the release of excerpts from the report detailing the findings of the investigation into alleged election interference by former President Donald Trump and his allies as part of a broader plan to overturn the The results of the 2020 presidential election are described. The report indicates that the grand jury believes that one or more witnesses may have committed an act false testimony in her statements and recommended that the public prosecutor file charges against her. However, the investigation continues to focus on the phone call Trump allegedly made Brad Raffensperger, Republican Secretary of State of Georgia, on January 2, 2021, asking to “find the votes necessary” to win in his state; but also to a letter in which the former president asked to overturn the results of the local elections in order to facilitate his ascension to the White House.