Washington D.C. – Rudy Giuliani has filed an appeal against a jury’s decision to make him pay $148 million to two Georgia election workers for defaming them after the 2020 election. The jury found him liable for making false claims against the workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, and ordered him to compensate them for the damage caused by his baseless allegations.
Giuliani filed for bankruptcy shortly after the verdict was delivered, halting the efforts of the election workers to collect the significant sum from him. His bankruptcy judge’s decision to unfreeze the defamation case allowed his attorney to continue representing him, resulting in the formal filing of his notice of appeal late Tuesday.
The former New York City mayor previously spread falsehoods that Freeman and Moss were involved in widespread voter fraud, focusing on video footage showing them working at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena on election night. The jury determined that Giuliani’s statements had led to racist and violent threats against the two women, completely disrupting their lives.
Giuliani has argued that his remarks were protected opinion under the First Amendment and that they were not made with actual malice. Furthermore, he has renewed his motion for judgment as a matter of law, insisting that the expert testimony presented by the election workers should have been excluded from the trial. However, the judge overseeing the case had previously rejected those claims, as well as Giuliani’s argument regarding the inadmissibility of the expert’s testimony.
The former Trump attorney’s bankruptcy case has attracted other notable creditors, including Hunter Biden, Smartmatic, Dominion, and his former lawyers. While Giuliani’s appeal may provide some relief, it remains uncertain how much the election workers and other creditors will be able to recover from him. An approved payment plan for Giuliani’s attorney to continue representing him in the appeal has raised questions about the funding of his legal battles.
Overall, Giuliani’s decision to appeal the jury’s verdict and his ongoing bankruptcy case indicate an uncertain future for the former New York City mayor as he faces mounting legal challenges and significant financial liability.