By Lindsay Whitehurst
Two former Georgia election workers who won a $148 million defamation judgment against Rudy Giuliani asked Monday for a court order barring him from continuing to repeat the lies he spread about them following the 2020 election.
The new lawsuit points to comments the former New York City mayor made during and after the damages trial last week, repeating the baseless conspiracy theories about Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss.
Those statements “make clear that he intends to persist in his campaign of targeted defamation and harassment. It must stop," attorneys for the mother and daughter wrote in court documents.
Giuliani political adviser Ted Goodman declined to comment on the lawsuit, but pointed to his other accomplishments, including his celebrated leadership after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Giuliani has previously acknowledged in court documents that he made public comments falsely claiming Freeman and Moss committed ballot fraud as he fought to keep fellow Republican Donald Trump in the White House after Democrat Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election.
Those claims led to racist threats and intense harassment that forced the mother and daughter to flee their homes and fear for their lives, they said in emotional testimony last week. The trial was held to determine the amount of damages after a judge found he was liable for defaming them.
Giuliani has vowed to appeal the verdict, and it is not clear whether he would be able to pay the staggering damages. He's shown signs of financial strain as he defends himself against costly lawsuits and investigations stemming from his representation of former president Donald Trump.
He is also among 19 people charged in Georgia in the case accusing Trump and his Republican allies of working to subvert the state’s 2020 election results. Giuliani has pleaded not guilty and has characterized the case as politically motivated.
Oil companies offered a combined $264 million for drilling rights in federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday in a sale mandated by last year’s climate bill compromise.
Adidas is withdrawing its challenge to a Black Lives Matter trademark application featuring three parallel stripes, two days after it contested the image with the U.S. Trademark Office.
The state of Arkansas sued TikTok and Facebook parent Meta on Tuesday, claiming the social media companies were misleading consumers about the safety of children on their platforms and protections of users' private data.
Russia’s top security agency arrested an American reporter for the Wall Street Journal on espionage charges, the first time a U.S. correspondent was put behind bars on spying accusations since the Cold War. The newspaper denied the allegations against Evan Gershkovich.
North Carolina residents can now buy a handgun without getting a permit from a local sheriff. The Republican-controlled state House on Wednesday overrode the Democratic governor’s veto.
Longtime Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz is facing sharp questioning before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee where he is defending the company’s actions during an ongoing unionizing campaign.
Credit Suisse violated a plea agreement with U.S. authorities by failing to report secret offshore accounts that wealthy Americans used to avoid paying taxes, U.S. lawmakers said Wednesday.
According to a Reuters report, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon is being deposed over the bank's relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Capitol hill is trying to get to the bottom of the bank collapses that shocked the financial system last month, and today lawmakers grilled banking regulators about why they weren't able to stop the crisis. Cheddar News correspondent Lisa Bennatan broke down the proceedings.
Juul will finally have its day in court for its role in the teen vaping epidemic. The Minnesota attorney general is preparing for opening arguments in the state's lawsuit against the vape maker. Here to break down the complicated backstory for this legal case is Senior Reporter Chloe Aiello.
