Rudy Giuliani is set to testify on Thursday in a federal defamation case to determine how much he should have to pay two Atlanta election workers he spread false statements about after the 2020 election.
Giuliani’s testimony will cap a closely-watched week-long defamation case. It comes after the two Black workers, Shaye Moss and her mother Ruby Freeman, gave harrowing testimony about how Giuliani’s lies upended their lives. Among other things, Moss said she is afraid to go anywhere alone and Freeman said she is afraid to give anyone her name and still wears a mask and sunglasses in public so she won’t be recognized. They are seeking $15.5m to $43m in damages from Giuliani.
It’s not clear how the former New York City mayor will defend himself. He has already conceded that he made false statements the two workers and Beryl Howell, the US district judge, has already found him liable for defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and civil conspiracy. The only question for the eight-member jury is how much to award in damages.
Joseph Sibley, Giuliani’s attorney, has sought to undercut claims that Freeman and Moss need millions of dollars to repair their reputation and that they suffered harm that amounts to such a high sum. He has also sought to separate Giuliani and his statements from the people who took violent action against Freeman and Moss.
Giuliani has already been twice reprimanded by Howell this week for statements he made outside the courthouse. On Monday, he said he would prove what he said about Moss and Freeman was true. On Tuesday, he attacked lawyers representing Moss and Freeman.
“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 on Monday. “Of course I don’t regret it, I told the truth.”
After Giuliani’s testimony, the jury will begin deliberating to decide on the damages.
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