Rudy Giuliani ordered to pay $148 million damages for false claims about election workers

Donald Trump’s former lawyer Rudy Giuliani has been ordered to pay $148 million ( €135.82 million) in damages to two election workers whom he had falsely accused of tampering with votes after the 2020 US election.

During the trial, one of the victims, Ruby Freeman, told the court how she was forced to flee from a group of Trump supporters who had gathered outside her home. The FBI had also warned her that she was in danger.

That incident took place after Giuliani had shared a video of Freeman and her daughter Wandrea, which he falsely claimed to show evidence of ballot tampering.

The plaintiffs sued Giuliani for defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress and civil conspiracy in 2021.

Friday’s judgement came at the end of a four-day trial, in which the jury of eight men and women ordered Giuliani to pay $75 million in damages, as well as another $20 million to each of the women as compensation for the emotional distress they suffered. The women were also awarded $16 million each for defamation.

Last August, presiding Judge Beryl Howell issued a default judgement against Giuliani, finding him liable for making defamatory claims about the women.

“I don’t regret a damn thing,” an unrepentant Giuliani told reporters outside court, following the verdict. 

The civil case is the latest of a series of court cases against the former Mayor of New York. He was indicted alongside Donald Trump and 17 others earlier this year, accused of attempting to overturn the result of the 2020 Presidential election.

Giuliani has said he plans to appeal the judgment.