Giuliani faces second day of trial over lies about Atlanta election workers

A federal jury trial enters its second day on Tuesday, seeking to determine the extent of damages Rudy Giuliani should have to pay to two Atlanta election workers after spreading lies about them.

Ruby Freeman and her daughter Shaye Moss have lived in a “perpetual nightmare” since Giuliani falsely accused them, by name, of trying to steal the election in 2020, their lawyers said in opening statements on Monday in Washington DC. They’re expected to testify about vicious threats, harassment, and emotional distress they have suffered because of his lies. They are seeking up to $43m in damages from the former mayor and Donald Trump ally.

Giuliani has already conceded he made false statements about Freeman and Moss and been found liable for defamation per se, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and civil conspiracy. But in a brief statement to reporters after court on Monday evening, he suggested he planned to prove everything he had said about them was true during the trial.

“When I testify, you’ll get the whole story and it will be definitively clear what I said was true and that whatever happened to them, which was unfortunate if other people overreacted, but everything I said about them is true,” he said. Asked if he regretted what he said, Giuliani said: “Of course I don’t regret it, I told the truth.”

The claims have been repeatedly debunked and Freeman and Moss have been formally cleared of any wrongdoing.

Joseph Sibley, Giuliani’s lawyer, said in court on Monday that the damages the plaintiffs were seeking would amount to a civil “death penalty” on the former New York City mayor. “If you award them what they are asking for, it will be the end of Mr Giuliani,” he said.

It’s not immediately clear who will take the stand on Tuesday but Freeman, Moss, and Giuliani are all due to testify this week.

The first witness to testify on Monday was Regina Scott, a former Chicago police department officer who now works as a security consultant. She was hired by Freeman and Moss to analyze online threats against them and testified about the enormous volume they have seen since 2020. “The type of violent and racist and graphic material, that’s on a level we don’t see at all in our work,” she said on Monday.